Tribune poll: City is 'meh' on mayor

Photo: Brian Jackson/Sun-Times

According to a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll of 800 registered voters, the city is pretty meh on Mayor Rahm Emanuel these days with his approval rating hovering around 50 percent but his disapproval rating is up to 40 percent. And, not surprisingly, his disapproval rating and out-of-touch rating is highest with black voters after a period of months that’s seen a spike in violence, a plan to close schools, and a planned six-month shut-down of the Red Line, all things that affect predominantly black neighborhoods.

The poll has Mayor Emanuel’s approval rating at 50 percent but his disapproval rating hovering at 40 percent, an increase of 21 percent from this time last year. Perhaps more important is the portion of the poll that shows a majority of voters, particularly black and hispanic voters, think Mayor Emanuel is out of touch.

Of course, this comes a few weeks after a new Crain/Ipsos poll found that 27 percent of Chicagoans approved of Emanuel’s job as mayor while 28 percent disapproved and 29 percent “not sure what they believe,” which brings a whole new existential crisis twist to approval rating polls.