Emanuel has 16-point lead over Garcia in latest poll

A new weekly mayoral poll ahead of the April 7 runoff election shows Mayor Rahm Emanuel is continuing to gain further separation from his challenger, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

The Ogden & Fry poll conducted Saturday among 951 likely voters shows Emanuel getting support from 48.5 percent of those polled, while Garcia comes in at 32.1 percent. A large number of those polled — 18.4 percent — say they’re still undecided. The poll has a margin of error of 3.24 percentage points.

This is the fourth runoff poll Ogden & Fry has conducted and each week, Emanuel has increased his lead. Last week’s poll had him with a 10.4-point lead.

On Friday, the same poll was run with the “undecided” option removed. Of the 877 likely voters in that poll, Emanuel came in at 55.8 percent with Garcia at 44.2 percent.

Once again, Ogden & Fry pointed out that “turnout and the under-polling Hispanic vote are two factors to still consider.”

Asked for comment on the new poll, Emanuel campaign spokesman Steve Mayberry said in an email: “Throughout this election, polls have come and gone. The only poll that matters will happen on Election Day, and the mayor is working hard to earn every vote.”

In an email, a Garcia campaign representative said: “The Feb. 22 Ogden & Fry poll underestimated our support relative to the mayor’s by more than 10 percent. We know that this race is extremely competitive. We gain increasing momentum as voters get to know Commissioner Garcia and learn more about the clear difference between his priorities and those of Mayor Emanuel.”

With the runoff election closing in, both sides have been going hard at each other.

The $3.6 million super PAC to re-elect Emanuel released a new commercial, telling voters they “can’t afford Chuy Garcia.”

On Friday, Garcia said he hasn’t offered any specific solutions to the city’s $20 billion pension crisis partly because he has “good reason to think the books are cooked” by Emanuel’s administration.

Weekly Mayoral Poll