Internal Polling Shows ‘No Way’ Chicago Mayor Can Win Re-Election

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is fighting for his political life in the city’s first ever mayoral runoff election, and now a staffer for challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is revealing that their internal polling is showing there is “no way” Rahm can win re-election.

Chuy Garcia’s finance chairman, longtime Chicago Democrat operative David Schaffer, is saying that the challenger’s internal polling is showing a Garcia win on April 7, just like polling said former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel wouldn’t win re-election outright in last month’s general election.

In a recent long-ranging interview with Chicago Magazine, Schaffer says that he is hearing that Rahm is pulling his people off the street to avoid paying them because he knows he’s about to lose.

Schaffer also said that his polling is assuring a Garcia win.

“Our polls show there’s no way that Rahm can win; that Chuy will win pretty handily,” Schaffer said on Monday. “The same thing they showed in the primary, that Chuy was going to force Rahm into a runoff.”

Few expected Emanuel to lose his bid for re-election in February’s general election. It seemed a lock that Emanuel would ride the tens of millions in his campaign war chest to an easy re-election. But Emanuel unexpectedly couldn’t reach the 50 percent plus he needed to win. The loss forced him into the first runoff election that the city has ever experienced.

Then, immediately after the general election ended, a series of high-profile Chicago constituencies lined up behind Emanuel’s challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, including a powerful union and Operation Push chief Jesse Jackson.

Some pundits are warning that an Emanuel loss in Chicago could have far-reaching consequences and could even endanger Hillary Clinton’s run for president.

Thus far, ahead of the April 7 election, early voting turnout has been very high, an indication that voters are extremely motivated to vote.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.