Rahm Emanuel elected as Chicago mayor

[News_Editor]

Rahm Emanuel elected as Chicago mayor

2011-02-23 22:05:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) -- Rahm Emanuel, a former presidential adviser, on Tuesday was elected as Chicago mayor after obtaining 55.2 percent of the votes, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Emanuel will become the 46th mayor of Chicago and the first Jewish in the office. He will succeed Mayor Richard Daley, Chicago's longest-serving chief executive. Emanuel avoided a March runoff after obtaining more than 50 percent of votes.

After Daley announced that he will not run for mayor in the February 22 elections, Emanuel was one of the top candidates for the post. The polls were the first Chicago election without a sitting mayor on the ballot since 1947.

Emanuel faced five other candidates in the ballot but no one really came close to stealing the victory from the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. Gery Chico was the closest after gaining 24 percent of the votes.

"I want to extend my congratulations to Rahm Emanuel on a well-deserved victory tonight," said President Obama. "Rahm will be a terrific mayor for all the people of Chicago."

Emanuel overcame a ruling that made him ineligible to appear on the mayor's ballot by the Illinois appeals court. The decision was made after Emanuel did not meet the residency requirements.

In order to be eligible for mayor, the individual must have been living in Chicago for at least a year prior to the February 22 election. Emanuel was born in Chicago and purchased a home in the city in 1998.

In January 2009, Emanuel was appointed as President Obama's chief of staff and moved to Washington D.C. His family remained in the Chicago residence while he lived in an apartment in the U.S. capital.

Emanuel lived in the apartment from January to May 2009. in June of that year, he and his family moved to a house in the U.S. capital. After his resignation as chief of staff, he returned to Chicago in October 2010.

The newly elected Chicago mayor appealed the ruling and was allowed to run for mayor. Emanuel will begin his term as mayor on May 16. However, he acknowledged that succeeding Daley is "an impossible act to follow."

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