PORTAGE PARK — Mayor Rahm Emanuel did slightly better on the Far Northwest Side in Tuesday's municipal election than he did citywide, but the mayor didn't come close to winning a majority of votes in the 38th, 39th, 41st or 45th wards, according to unofficial results.
Emanuel will face Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in the April 7 runoff.
Although Emanuel's strongest areas of support were clustered Downtown and on the Gold Coast, he won 48 percent northwest in the area roughly defined as from Portage Park to O'Hare and from Sauganash to Dunning. That is slightly higher than the 45 percent of the vote the mayor won citywide, according to unofficial results.
Garcia won 33 percent of the citywide vote, setting up the one-on-one contest, according to unofficial results. Garcia's base of support was in West Side and South Side wards.
Garcia's strongest showing on the Far Northwest Side was in the 39th Ward, where he won 37 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. That ward includes all or portions of Albany Park, North Park, Hollywood Park, Mayfair, Sauganash, Edgebrook, Old Edgebrook, Gladstone Park, Indian Woods, Old Irving Park and Forest Glen.
However, in the 41st Ward — home to many Chicago police officers, firefighters, teachers and other city employees, Garcia won just 31 percent of the vote. But because Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) won 17.4 percent of the vote, Emanuel failed to win the ward.
Fioretti did much better in the 41st Ward, which includes Edgebrook, Norwood Park, Edison Park and O'Hare, than elsewhere, with the alderman winning only 7 percent of the citywide vote.
In fact, the Far Northwest Side was a stronghold for Fioretti. He won 15 percent of the vote in the 38th Ward, 10.5 percent in the 39th Ward and 13 percent of the 45th Ward.
Emanuel's relatively poor showing in the 41st could have helped Chicago firefighter Anthony Napolitano push Ald. Mary O'Connor (41st) into a runoff. While Napolitano has promised to be independent of the mayor, O'Connor frequently supports his proposals and has regularly appeared at Emanuel's side at news conferences on a wide range of subjects.
O'Connor finished with 47.9 percent of the vote, and Napolitano with 42 percent, with two precincts left to be counted Wednesday because of a late start Tuesday morning.
Garcia finished with 35 percent of the vote in the 45th Ward, where Ald. John Arena and Chicago Police Lt. John Garrido will face each other in a runoff for the second straight election.
Turnout was also higher in Far Northwest Side wards than it was citywide, which was expected to end up at 34 percent, slightly higher than the record low.
In the 38th Ward, where Ald. Nicholas Sposato (36th) beat six candidates to keep his seat on the council, 37.7 percent of registered voters made it to the polls.
In the 39th Ward, where Ald. Margaret Laurino won 53 percent to avoid a runoff against second-place finisher Robert Murphy, 38 percent of voters cast a ballot.
In the 41st and 45th wards, turnout hit 41 percent. The 19th Ward on the South Side had the highest turnout in the city at 51.5 percent.
Contributing: Tanveer Ali
