Emanuel Way Ahead In Teamsters Poll

CHICAGO (CBS) - The February primary election for mayor is a long way off, but CBS 2 has obtained a new poll that shows a clear favorite already.

A poll of members of the Teamsters union indicates that 36 percent favor Rahm Emanuel for mayor. U.S. Rep. Danny Davis came in second with 14 percent, followed by Carol Moseley Braun with 13 percent, Gery Chico with 10 percent, the Rev. James Meeks with 7 percent, and Miguel del Valle with 4 percent.

In head-to-head scenarios, one of which might be appear on the ballot in an April runoff election, Emanuel also won handily in the poll. He captured 54 percent to 33 percent against Davis, and 55 percent to 32 percent against Braun.

The poll indicated that Emanuel was popular across the board. He led the Teamsters' poll among whites, African-Americans and Hispanics, and in all seven Chicago congressional districts.

While Braun had the highest name recognition of any candidate – at 90 percent – only Emanuel and Davis had majority favorable ratings, the poll says. Emanuel was viewed favorably by 58 percent of those polled, while Davis was favored by 55 percent.

The poll also showed that voters know about doubts regarding Emanuel's residency, and whether he can claim to have lived in Chicago in recent years. But most poll participants believed he should be allowed to run anyway.

"In fact, Emanuel's lead is actually slightly greater among voters who are aware of the residency issues than among those who are not aware," the poll results said.

Only 24 percent of poll participants agreed with the statement that "because he has spent so much time living outside the city, Emanuel just doesn't understand the city well enough to be a good mayor." Also, most voters disagreed that Emanuel "abandoned" President Obama and has the wrong personality for a mayor.

Interviews for the poll were conducted from Nov. 8 through this past Sunday. At least one more poll is planned before Election Day, a spokesman said.

The Teamsters plan to present their findings to membership before deciding an endorsement, spokesman Brian Rainville said.

"Some 3,000 of our members work for the City of Chicago and 14,000 of our members are public employees. Of the 100,000 members we have, half of them live in the city," Rainville said. "So the race for mayor it is very important to our membership."

CBS 2 Political Producer Ed Marshall contributed to this report.