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Emanuel, Garcia Taking Bids For Mayor Into Home Stretch

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Starting their last full day of campaigning, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia spent the morning shaking hands with potential supporters, and expressing confidence they'll win on Election Day.

Emanuel started his day by having breakfast with people he calls "super volunteers" at Ann Sather Restaurant at 909 W. Belmont Av.

Afterward, he went to his North Side campaign office, to make get-out-the-vote phone calls. He quarreled with a reporter's assertion that the party in power, with the largest organization – like his – benefits from low turnout.

"I think turnout, big turnout, is important for Chicago's future. I want to be clear … yes, my name's on the ballot. That's also true Chuy's name is on the ballot. But what's on the ballot is Chicago's future. That's what's on the ballot, and the voters and the residents of the city of Chicago know that's what's at stake," the mayor said.

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The mayor made several other stops, tweeting campaign photos, from Jefferson Park this morning and Austin this afternoon, but refusing to tell reporters in advance as he closed with a shot at Garcia's refusing to tell voters who'd advise him on how to pay for everything he'd promised.

"He said if 'I told you what it was going to do,' which he then implicitly acknowledges he knows what it's going to do, he would lose the election," Emanuel said. "Breaking news: your political future is not more important that the future of the city of Chicago."

Garcia's said he got to audit the books before committing to anything. The Mayor has said laid out a combination of revenue sources to balance the budget, though several of them require action in Springfield. Garcia, the mayor claims, will be forced to increase property taxes and cut services.

Meantime, Garcia started out the morning greeting commuters at the UIC/Halsted stop on the CTA Blue Line. He told voters he was a "UIC Guy, too," after receiving both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Garcia said he's confident turnout will be high, and is in his favor. He said polls showing him trailing Emanuel by double digits are just plain wrong.

"They're not sampling Latinos correctly, the African-American sampling is also not good, and they're way under-sampling young voters. I'm doing exceptionally well with all those sectors of the electorate. This is a very close race. Tomorrow it will be decided by a superior field force that we will have on the streets all over Chicagoland," he said.

He noted polls before the first round of the mayor's race in February showed Emanuel would win the election outright, but Garcia did much better than expected, and forced a runoff.

"We weren't supposed to be here," he said. "We were counted out by the pundits, by the polls – the last few polls that are out there, they haven't gone away – by the political machines, by the papers, and by big money people who thought that they could buy this election. They ain't buying this election."

With so many undecided voters up for grabs, Garcia's camp is planning a massive "get out the vote" effort tomorrow--with more than 5,000 volunteers targeting 360,000 "likely" Chuy voters.

Garcia has gotten some criticism for not sharing more about how he plans to pay for all his campaign promises--like adding more police officers and eliminating red light cameras.

"If people go on my website and they look at my financial plan they will get a better sense of the framework and the approach that we're taking," Garcia said. "It's innovative. It's 21st-century. It's serious."

That's enough for his supporters and Garcia believes it's enough to make him the next mayor of Chicago.

"The people are going to have their say tomorrow," he said.

Garcia said he has no concerns going into tomorrow's election and that he's not nervous at all.
He also said he had to conserve his voice today for his victory speech tomorrow.

Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Approximately 110,000 people already cast ballots through early voting.

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