CHICAGO In a surprise result that showed the limits of a big-money campaign, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday's election, and must face a run-off against second-place finisher Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in April. 
 
 The setback for Emanuel, 55, came despite a visit to Chicago last week from President Barack Obama, whom Emanuel served as chief of staff. 
 
 With $6 million in his war chest at year end even after spending $4.7 million in the fourth quarter, Emanuel hugely outspent four opponents in his race for a second term as head of the nation's third-largest city. 
 
 The powerful Democrat got millions of dollars from campaign donors, including Hollywood directors and hedge fund executives, plus Obama's support. 
 
 But it wasn't enough to fend off the mild-mannered Garcia, a Cook County commissioner and progressive Democrat with a paltry campaign fund. Garcia held a low public profile before he jumped into the race last October after the teacher's union president, Karen Lewis, backed away after being diagnosed with brain cancer. 
 
 The run-off election against Garcia will be held on April 7. 
 
 With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Emanuel had 45.4 percent of the vote, while Garcia had 33.9 percent. Polls before the election had shown Emanuel close to 50 percent, and Garcia at about 20 percent. 
 
 Emanuel sounded hoarse and emotional as he told supporters to continue their fight. 
 
 "Tomorrow morning I will be seeing you at the L stops," said Emanuel "We will get back out there talking to our friends and families and neighbors as they make a critical choice about who has the strength, who has the leadership, who has the ideas to move this great city forward." 
 
 The former Illinois congressman won the mayoral seat outright when he first ran in 2011. 
 
 But controversial decisions to close 50 public schools and continued high crime helped send the Chicago mayoral election into its first run-off since the city started holding nonpartisan elections in 1995. 
 
 Garcia, 58, a former state senator and alderman, has argued that Emanuel paid more attention to the city's upper class and downtown than to the poor and communities outside the commercial center. 
 
 In a television ad, he turned one of Emanuel's apparent strengths - an ability to lure corporations to Chicago - into a negative by casting the incentive packages as tax breaks that favored big companies while taking money away from spending on police. 
 
 "We have something to say," said Garcia to his euphoric supporters Tuesday night. "We want change." 
 
 Garcia had the support of the powerful Chicago Teachers Union and its president, Lewis, who gave Garcia an immediate boost by videotaping an endorsement of him the week he announced his bid for mayor. 
 
 Suzy Broz, 26, a former Emanuel supporter, said she thought Garcia could win. 
 
 "A lot of people are upset with a one percent mayor and people feel that there's a great chance for change," Broz said. 
 
 Emanuel, known for his sometimes abrasive style, has argued that he had to make tough choices to rein in the city's budget deficit, which is expected to grow to $1.2 billion by next year due to an increase in payments to public pensions. 
 
 As the election loomed, Emanuel turned more attention to lower income residents, passing a city ordinance to raise the minimum wage. 
 
 (Editing by Kim Coghill) ||||| Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fell short of an outright win in his reelection battle Tuesday — despite President Barack Obama putting his hometown political clout on the line to push his former top aide over the finish line — and will face the second-place finisher in an April runoff. 
 
 Emanuel pulled in 45 percent of the vote — well short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia finished second at 34 percent, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. 
 
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 There is nothing to suggest that Obama is at fault for Emanuel’s showing. The mayor has had a rocky first term highlighted by clashes with teachers, a wave of violent crime and backlash over his plan to increase taxes. The famously hot-tempered Emanuel, long known in Chicago and Washington as “Rahmbo,” also met criticism for his sometimes hard-headed style. 
 
 But the result is also a disappointment for Obama, who put himself at the forefront during the final days of the campaign. He cut radio ads for Emanuel, his first White House chief of staff. And on Thursday, just five days before the election, the president flew into Chicago to give the mayor a boost. They appeared together at a stop in the Pullman neighborhood, where the president declared that he could not “be prouder of [Emanuel] and the extraordinary service he’s provided.” 
 
 Obama and Emanuel then made a trek to one of the mayor’s campaign headquarters, where the president told volunteers that Emanuel was “somebody who cares deeply about this city.” Video of the president’s testimonial ended up in the mayor’s final television ad before Tuesday’s vote. 
 
 Those appeals, however, were not enough to give Emanuel, who was facing a group of underfunded and less well-known opponents, a majority of the vote. 
 
 Although Emanuel will start as the heavy favorite to retain his seat, Garcia, a Cook County commissioner, will have an opening to consolidate the mayor’s opposition. Garcia, businessman Willie Wilson (who won 11 percent of the vote on Tuesday) and Alderman Bob Fioretti (7 percent) and activist William “Dock” Walls (3 percent) portrayed Emanuel as beholden to wealthy special interests, hostile to teachers and ineffective at solving the city’s crime problems. 
 
 Polls showed Emaunel closing in on a majority in recent weeks but never quite clearing the threshold. Emanuel vastly outraised his opponents, pulling in $13 million to Garcia’s $1 million. While Emanuel ran a slate of TV commercials, including one that featured Obama, Garcia was able to air only one TV ad. 
 
 Aside from his financial disadvantages in the contest, Garcia will face obstacles to securing the voters who backed other hopefuls. While Garcia has appealed to progressives and Hispanics, Wilson earned support from black residents and Fioretti from white, working-class voters. 
 
 The outcome is the latest personal political setback for Obama, who has recently watched several allies fall short at the ballot box: Incumbent Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie — a family friend — lost his own party primary in August despite Obama’s intervention, then Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn went down to a Republican in November. 
 
 The president and his political team now must decide how — or whether — to engage in a runoff election that will put Emanuel’s controversial tenure under the national microscope. Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, declined to comment on Obama’s plans to buttress Emanuel other than to say he is “supportive and will do what we can to help.” 
 
 Behind the scenes, sources close to the mayor say, Emanuel and Obama have stayed in close contact throughout the contest. They have been talking by phone every few weeks, and in late November, during a visit to Washington, D.C., Emanuel stopped by the White House for a private meeting with the president. 
 
 The planning for Obama’s trip to Chicago was nearly three weeks in the making, the sources said. 
 
 In many ways, Obama was the ideal surrogate for Emanuel. While the president has seen his popularity ebb nationwide since taking office, he remains popular in his hometown. 
 
 He is particularly popular among the group of voters who have complained most bitterly about Emanuel’s tenure: African-Americans. Many of them have been deeply unhappy about the mayor’s controversial 2013 decision to close 50 underperforming schools, most of them in hard-scrabble neighborhoods. In sending the children to schools elsewhere, Emanuel argued, he was ensuring they received a better education. 
 
 During the closing days of the contest, polls showed a large percentage of black voters uncommitted. In praising Emanuel, Obama adopted a simple line of attack designed to appeal to those voters who were squeamish about supporting him: that he has been willing to make tough decisions, even if they didn’t make everyone happy. 
 
 “If you want a mayor who does what’s right, not just what’s popular, who fights night and day for the city we love, then I hope you’ll join me,” Obama said in a radio ad for Emanuel. 
 
 Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report. ||||| Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks to the press after leaving a restaurant where he had lunch with U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza on election day February 24, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images) 
 
 CHICAGO — Rahm Emanuel was dealt a tough political blow on Tuesday, after he was forced into a runoff election to hold onto his seat as mayor of the Windy City. 
 
 Emanuel, who raised about $15 million for the campaign, finished first in the five candidate field, but fell far short of garnering the 50% plus one vote he needed to win outright and avoid a runoff election. He will now face the second place finisher, Cook County Commissioner, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, on April 7. 
 
 With 95.7% of precincts reporting, Emanuel had 45.3% of the vote and Garcia had 33.9%. 
 
 "We came a long way, and we have a little bit further to go," Emanuel said. 
 
 Chicago ceased holding partisan primaries in 1995, when it switched to the current election format. It marks the first time that the city will hold a runoff mayoral election. 
 
 Emanuel, who raised more than his four rivals combined, buried his challengers in $7 million in campaign advertising in his unsuccessful attempt to avoid the runoff. 
 
 . 
 
 He even turned to President Obama, who Emanuel served as White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010, as his chief surrogate. 
 
 Obama recorded a radio advertisement in which he endorsed Emanuel last month. Last week, the president flew to Chicago last week to announce the designation of the Pullman historic district, which manufactured sleeper cars at the turn of the 20th Century and was at the center of the black labor movement. 
 
 Emanuel's latest television advertisement featured a clip of Obama wrapping Emanuel in a hug at the Pullman event and a sound bite of the president touting the mayor as "making sure that every Chicagoan in every neighborhood gets the fair shot at success that they deserve." 
 
 But the president's influence wasn't able to help Emanuel close the deal. 
 
 "We need to upgrade our communities by building more and better schools," said Tracy McGrady, a college student and part-time construction worker. "Instead, Rahm is closing them." 
 
 In Chicago's Bronzville neighborhood, a predominantly African-American neighborhood, Emanuel supporters appeared to be a rare breed. 
 
 "I don't like Rahm," said Henry Ray, who said he voted for Wilson. "He is doing nothing for my people." 
 
 The mayor, a former U.S. congressman who served a district on Chicago's Northwest Side, has faced scathing criticism for his decision to close 50 city schools with low enrollment and the scorn of Chicago teachers, who staged their first strike in 25 years early in Emanuel's term. The mayor's reputation also took a hit when the city recorded more than 500 murders in 2012. 
 
 For his part, Emanuel has noted that he raised the minimum wage, expanded full-day kindergarten programs for children in the city, and made big improvements in Chicago's sprawling rapid transit system during his term. 
 
 "I like what [Emanuel] is doing for the city," said Barb Boronski, who cast her ballot for the mayor at St. Wenceslaus Church on the city's Northwest Side. "He does what the other candidates are afraid to do." 
 
 Cook County Commissioner John Daley sang Emanuel's praises not far from a polling station. 
 
 "Rahm has been an effective mayor and a strong leader in difficult times," said Daley, whose brother and father spent a combined 43 years as mayors of Chicago. "He loves his job and he shows it." 
 
 After it became clear on Tuesday evening that he'd forced a runoff, Garcia celebrated his second-place finish against the much-better funded Emanuel. He also continued his populist assault on Emanuel as "Mayor 1%." 
 
 "We've got six weeks of hard work ahead of us," Garcia told supporters at a campaign celebration. "Believe me. These big money interests are going to throw everything they've got at us. They run this town and they're not going to give up easily. " 
 
 . 
 
 He didn't throw his hat into his race until after Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle opted not to launch bids to unseat Emanuel. 
 
 Garcia, 58, was born in Durango, Mexico. His father was a farm laborer who worked fields in California, Kansas, and Texas. When Garcia was 10, the family gained permanent residency status and moved to Chicago. He later became a U.S. citizen. 
 
 In addition to serving as a Cook County commissioner, Garcia previously was elected to Chicago city council and served in the Illinois General Assembly. 
 
 Thom Serafin, Chicago-based political consultant, said he expects "an awfully entertaining horse-race" in the six weeks ahead. 
 
 Garcia's campaign could become "a rallying cry for labor and a new focus against the 1%," Serafin said. "The cinders are there – all they need is a light. " 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1BprLaC ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201512/1991/1155968404_4642152251001_4642106078001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on Wednesday that he had asked for the resignation of the city's police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. PLAYBOOK LIVE Rahm Emanuel: I have no plans to resign 'We have a process called the election. The voters spoke,' the Chicago mayor said to POLITICO, rebuffing calls for his ouster. 
 
 Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that he would not resign, despite growing criticism for what some are calling his botched response to video footage showing a Chicago police officer last year firing 16 times at Laquan McDonald, who was walking away from officers. 
 
 "No," he said, during one of several testy exchanges through the course of a nearly hour-long discussion with POLITICO's Mike Allen and POLITICO Illinois' Natasha Korecki. "Because I really so much looked forward to this interview and I wanted to have it. I just felt so good saying that to you. We have a process called the election. The voters spoke. I'll be held accountable for the decisions and actions that I make." 
 
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 The Chicago mayor is struggling to quell the controversy, and on Tuesday dismissed police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, even though Emanuel still spoke highly of the police chief's record during a press conference. He also appointed a new "police accountability task force." 
 
 While Emanuel and his lawyers have fought for much of the past year to keep the police dashboard video of the October 2014 shooting from public eyes, citing concerns the footage could compromise the investigations into McDonald's death, a Cook County judge's ruling forced the release of the video last week. The outrage was swift, prompting days of protests surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. 
 
 Speaking at the POLITICO Illinois breakfast event in Chicago on Wednesday, Emanuel declined to entertain the notion that he might not have been reelected had the video been released prior to his April runoff election against Jesús "Chuy" Garcia. 
 
 He struck a defensive tone in explaining why he did not watch the video before its release to the general public, saying there is a balance of two competing principles. 
 
 The first, he said, is the right of the public and the media to see the footage, while the second is to protect the integrity of investigations. 
 
 Asked by Korecki why he would wait until more than a year after the shooting to release the video, Emanuel responded that Korecki is "reflecting the immediacy of cable television." Additionally, he said, the issues plaguing Chicago with respect to the relationship between the police and the communities it serves are not unique to the city, but that the town "has its own history and narrative." 
 
 Emanuel also responded to comments from the office of Cook County State Attorney Anita Alvarez, which told POLITICO Illinois on Tuesday that they did not tell the city to take up a legal fight to keep the video from the public. “They asked us our position in telephone calls — we said it was not our preference to release it, but it was ultimately their decision because of the FOIA,” Alvarez spokeswoman Sally Daly told POLITICO in the report published Wednesday. “We’re not party to the litigation on the FOIA.” 
 
 Emanuel reiterated Wednesday that his only knowledge of details surrounding the video of McDonald's shooting came from testimony from city attorney Stephen Patton delivered in April to the City Council, before the approval of the city's $5 million settlement with the McDonald family. 
 
 “I did not see the tape. I know what happened on the tape based on Steve’s testimony and what he had briefed me on," he said. 
 
 In a sign of the pressure Emanuel is under, the New York Times late Tuesday issued a scathing editorial entitled “The Chicago Police Scandal” in which the paper said, “All along, Mr. Emanuel’s response, either by design or because of negligence, was to do as little as possible — until the furor caused by the release of the video forced his hand. The residents of Chicago will have to decide whether that counts as taking responsibility.” 
 
 Emanuel on Wednesday elaborated on his decision to ask for McCarthy's resignation, saying it had nothing to do with McCarthy's overall performance. 
 
 "Well, as I said yesterday and I've said over the two years, a lot of people over a year asked me, or two years, to fire the superintendent," Emanuel said, noting the department achieved the lowest homicide rate in the last 50 years in 2014 and further reductions in that rate, adding that there has been real progress. 
 
 "He has become the issue rather than dealing with the issue," Emanuel also said, remarking that while he is "loyal" to McCarthy, he is more loyal to the people of the city of Chicago. 
 
 Following Emanuel's announcement, Illinois Attorney Lisa Madigan on Tuesday requested that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division investigate the city's police department practices. 
 
 "Chicago cannot move ahead and rebuild trust between the police and the community without an outside, independent investigation into its police department to improve policing practices," Madigan wrote. DOJ has said that it will review the request. 
 
 On Wednesday, Emanuel suggested that the city does not need that investigation right now. 
 
 And in addressing why he did not plan to attend the ongoing climate talks in Paris, Emanuel said that it was not the right time, "even though I believe in the issue of climate change. It's current and pressing. It's not in the distance, it's now." 
 
 "I'm not going to go to Paris, I'll deal with the issue appropriately, consistently do what we need here in the city, consistent with what I think is a tough issue, but I'm going to also deal with the issue that's front and center for the city," he said, listing one-on-one interactions with constituents in grocery and department stores in the last week. 
 
 Asked whether he would consider firing any more people, as Rev. Jesse Jackson suggested Tuesday, Emanuel remarked that "this is not the end of the problem but the beginning of the solution." 
 
 Further wrongdoing "hasn't been brought to anybody's attention at this point," he told Allen and Korecki.
– Chicago will hold its very first mayoral runoff election, because incumbent Rahm Emanuel failed to win the 50% of the vote that he needed in yesterday's election to secure a second term. He got just 45.4%, and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia got 33.9%; they'll face off on April 7. How it's being framed: The Chicago Tribune notes that Emanuel suffered "a national political embarrassment," calling Garcia "little-known" and "lesser-funded." It notes Emanuel's problems with voters: his closure of 50 schools and "standoff" with teachers during a strike in 2012 (their first in a quarter-century, USA Today notes), plus his "struggles" to decrease violent crime. Reuters calls it a "surprise result," noting that Emanuel "hugely outspent" his four opponents and had support from VIPs involved in everything from Hollywood to hedge funds—the president even backed him, and visited the city last week. In fact, the result is "disappointing" for Obama, who recorded radio ads for his former chief of staff and even appeared in one of Emanuel's TV ads, Politico says, but notes that "there is nothing to suggest that Obama is at fault for Emanuel’s showing." Politico also says Emanuel will "start as the heavy favorite" in the runoff campaign.