With under a month to go until voters have their final say, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's incumbency and TV ad blitz appears to be paying off.
A Chicago Tribune poll out Friday morning shows the mayor with a double-digit lead over challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. The poll of likely voters, conducted March 6 through March 11 by APC Research, showed Emanuel with 51 percent of support compared to Garcia's 37 percent. Another 11 percent of the 712 registered voters that were questioned said they remained undecided.
The margin-of-error in the poll was 3.7 percentage points.
The numbers are likely a boost of confidence for the Emanuel campaign, which has watched as Garcia collected several high-profile endorsements in recent days, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Rep. Danny Davis, the Teamsters Local 743 and several of his colleagues in the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
An Ogden and Fry poll released last Sunday showed the men in a statistical dead heat.
The Chicago Tribune has endorsed Emanuel for a second term.
