Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been elected the next mayor of Chicago. Emanuel received an outright majority of the vote Tuesday, avoiding a runoff election.
As of 9:30 p.m. with 90 percent of precincts reporting, Emanuel led with approximately 55 percent of the vote. Gerry Chico, a former chief of staff to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, was in second place with 24 percent.
In distant fourth was former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who had been championed as the “consensus” African-American candidate. Braun garnered less than nine percent of the vote, lagging approximately one percent behind former Illinois state Sen. Miguel Del Valle.
The election featured lower voter turnout than expected. The Chicago Tribune reports that only 40 to 45 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.
For final results, visit the website of the Chicago Board of Elections.