Mayor candidates busy on final campaign weekend

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three days before Election Day in Chicago there is a feeling among the challengers that incumbent Rahm Emanuel can be prevented from getting 50 percent of the vote to force a runoff in the mayoral election.

It's a busy final weekend of the campaign and despite polls showing he has a big lead Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he's taking nothing for granted.

But he still has to eat lunch, so he sat down with a number of South Side community members at H-Dogs on King Drive Saturday. Emanuel, who has a big lead in the polls, said he's feeling good, but he makes no promises about avoiding a runoff.

"This is obviously up to the voters," Emanuel said. "I think they know the stake in this election is about the future of this city and whether we're going to continue to do the things necessary to build a stronger future."

While he has participated in numerous mayoral forums, Emanuel's seat was empty at another forum sponsored by a West Side Minister's Coalition. The mayor's four challengers had an opportunity to take shots at what they call his failed leadership.

"When you have 97 percent of the young black men between the ages of 18 and 25 unemployed in the city of Chicago, you're going to have problems," said William "Dock" Walls.

"I believe in being creative bringing in new business," Willis Wilson said. "Chicago is a big business and you've got to run it like one."

Earlier, several candidates spoke at the weekly Saturday morning meeting at Rainbow PUSH headquarters. While it's considered unlikely any of the challengers will be able to beat Emanuel in Tuesday's election, they are all hoping to force a run-off, and each wants to position himself to be the candidate left to face the incumbent one-on-one.

"I wish the mayor was here, we could ask him. People know I'm not a rubber stamp alderman. I say what I believe and stand for the people that this administration leaves behind," Bob Fioretti said.

Jesus "Chuy" Garcia is hoping for strong support from the Latino community in Tuesday's election, but Saturday night he was courting the Irish vote, meeting voters at a gala at the Drake Hotel. With the clock ticking until the polls open Tuesday, Garcia is feeling confident of forcing the mayor into a runoff.

"I think one-on-one is a brand new ballgame, anything can happen and I think people will step back, regardless of what they did in the primary and take a closer look," Garcia said.

Many voters are not waiting until Tuesday to cast ballots. A record turnout for a municipal election took advantage of early voting, which ended Saturday.

"This feels more important than ever to me to cast my vote," said Matt Ginsberg. "I wanted to get out there. I didn't want to have anything come up the last day."

Early voting was up about 23 percent this year over the last municipal election in 2011. More than 15,000 votes were cast on Saturday alone, with more than 84,000 votes cast during the early voting period. While early voting ended Saturday, voters can still cast an absentee ballot by going to 69 West Washington Sunday or Monday from 9 a.m. until noon.

The mayoral candidates meantime will be making the rounds of city churches starting early Sunday morning.