Three-Way Tie In Mayor's Race On Eve Of Election

CHICAGO — On the eve of Tuesday's election, a new poll shows a dead heat for the top spot in the race for Chicago mayor. Bill Daley, Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle are in a three-way tie with 14 percent of the vote, according to a poll sponsored by 270 Strategies and conducted by Change Research during the final weekend of the campaign. The top two vote-getters will head into a runoff election in April if none of the 14 candidates manage to collect more than 50 percent of the vote.

In addition to asking voters to name their first choice on this week's ballot, the poll presented participants with several hypothetical one-on-one match-ups. Among the three frontrunners, the poll shows Lightfoot narrowly ahead of Daley 40 percent to 35 percent and far ahead of Preckwinkle by 42 percent to 25 percent. Daley tops Preckwinkle in a potential runoff by 39 percent to 32 percent.

Lightfoot had the support of 17 percent of male voters and 11 percent of female voters in the poll. Preckwinkle was the pick of 16 percent of female voters and 11 percent of male voters. Daley was favored by 14 percent of female voters and 13 percent of male voters.

The top issue for voters is financial stability, which was cited by 18 percent of all respondents. Among female voters, 19 percent selected crime and gun violence as the most important issue. Among male voters, 23 percent identified city finances and 16 percent named property taxes, according to the poll.

Among voters who said they were unsure of their vote and asked to determine who they would vote for if they had to decide: Preckwinkle had 17 percent, while Daley and Gery Chico each had 14 percent.

When voters were asked to identify their second choice, 15 percent chose Daley, whose supporters were the most evenly split when asked about their second choice, with 19 percent choosing Chico and 14 percent picking Lightfoot.

270 Strategies is a Chicago-based public engagement firm founded by veterans of former President Barack Obama's political campaigns. The poll of likely voters was conducted online on Feb. 22 to Feb. 24 with a sample size of 706 and a margin of error of 3.7 percent, according to 270 strategies.

• William M. Daley — 14 percent
• Lori Lightfoot — 14 percent
• Toni Preckwinkle — 14 percent
• Susana A. Mendoza — 10 percent
• Gery Chico — 9 percent
• Willie L. Wilson — 9 percent
• Jerry Joyce — 8 percent
• Paul Vallas — 6 percent
• Garry McCarthy — 5 percent
• Robert "Bob" Fioretti — 2 percent
• Neal Sales-Griffin — 1 percent
• La Shawn K. Ford — 1 percent
• John Kenneth Kozlar — 0 percent
• "I do not remember" — 4 percent

Read more: Chicago Mayoral Election 2019 Candidates Preview