Emanuel tops Chicago mayoral poll

CHICAGO, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Rahm Emanuel is far ahead of his rivals in the Chicago mayor's race, a new Tribune/WGN poll indicates.

The former White House staff chief was backed by 32 percent of voters, followed by 30 percent undecided. Former public schools chief Gery Chico and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., each had 9 percent, with state Sen. James Meeks at 7 percent and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun at 6 percent.

Emanuel was supported by more Hispanics than anyone else, more blacks than anyone but Davis and 46 percent of whites, the Chicago Tribune reported.

But he first must withstand a ballot challenge to his legal residency.

For 12 hours Tuesday, Emanuel was grilled before the board of elections about whether he qualifies under state law requiring candidates reside in the city for a year before the February election, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

He was questioned about his tax returns and why he rented out his home if he really intended to remain a Chicago resident after moving his family to Washington in 2008.

The poll of 721 registered likely voters was conducted Friday through Monday and has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.