Rahm Emanuel Elected Mayor of Chicago

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has been elected mayor of Chicago, to succeed the retiring Richard Daley.

With 86 percent of the precincts reporting, Emanuel was trouncing five opponents Tuesday with 55 percent of the vote to avoid an April runoff. Emanuel needed more than 50 percent of the vote to win.

The other major candidates _ former Chicago schools president Gery Chico, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and City Clerk Miguel del Valle _ had hoped to force a runoff but were no match for Emanuel.

Chico had 24 percent of the vote compared to 9 percent for both del Valle and Braun. Two other lesser-known candidates each got about 1 percent of the vote.

Emanuel's win caps off a campaign that included an unsuccessful legal challenge to try to keep him off the ballot.