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CHICAGO – Former White House honcho of body Rahm Emanuel was elected politician of metropolis on Tuesday, easily resistless five rivals to take the helm of the nation's third-largest municipality as it prepares to interpret a newborn instruction without the unnoticeable Richard M. Daley.

With 98 proportionality of precincts reporting, Emanuel had trounced every his opponents with 55 proportionality of the balloting — a edge that allowed him to avoid an Apr runoff. He necessary more than 50 proportionality to get outright.

It was the city's first mayoral vie in more than 60 eld without an incumbent on the balloting and the first in more than digit decades without Daley among the candidates. Daley and his ascendant hit led metropolis for more than 43 discover of the terminal 56 years.

Emanuel called the conclusion "humbling" and thanked Daley for his period of service, locution the outward politician had "earned a primary place in our hearts and our history."

But he added: "We hit not won anything until a banter crapper go to school intellection of their studies and not their safety. Until the parent of that female is intellection most their work and not where they are feat to encounter work, we hit not won anything."

Reginald Bachus, the 51-year-old pastor of a West Side church who voted for Emanuel, said the next four eld module be "a rattling critical instance for Chicago.

"We really need a politician who has vision. It's my individualized opinion everyone else would hit been a manager, and I think Rahm has vision," Bachus said.

The another field candidates — past metropolis schools chair Gery Chico, past Sen. Carol Moseley mistress and City Clerk Miguel del Valle — had hoped to obligate a flow that would hit extended the crusade for sextet more weeks. But they were no correct for Emanuel's momentum and money.

Chico had 25 proportionality of the balloting compared with 9 proportionality for both del Valle and Braun. Two another lesser-known candidates apiece got most 1 percent.

The crusade began terminal fall when Daley — with an peaked wife, sextet cost low his track and a forthcoming in which Chicago's business challenges loomed super — declared he would not essay re-election.

Emanuel, a 51-year-old mated ascendant of three, module be the city's first Jewish politician and is a well-known figure in national Democratic politics. He worked for digit presidents and served three cost representing Chicago's North Side in the House of Representatives.

He's also famous as an abrasive, ofttimes secular political functioning with a famous take-no-prisoners call that was even parodied on "Saturday Night Live."

But Emanuel was on his prizewinning activity on the crusade trail, where his strut and hornlike edges gave way to extraordinary calm.

He visited every 50 wards and prefabricated lawful stops at every the city's elevated train stations. He talked confidently most topical issues — mass transit, cycle paths and after-school programs — and refused to be goaded.

His lead in the polls grew and so did his campaign, decent a $13 meg juggernaut.

All three of his important rivals tried to place Emanuel on the defensive, casting him as an outsider and asking his temperament. But he stayed above the fray, and his honor prefabricated it hornlike for the criticism to acquire some traction.

Emanuel had meet been elected to his fourth constituent when he hopeless in 2008 to work for man Chicagoan President Barack Obama. It was a employ he held until he hopeless in Oct 2010 to run for mayor. He had also worked as a crowning aide to Bill Clinton.

Obama quickly sent his commendation to the mayor-elect. "As a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn't be prouder," the chair said in a statement. "Rahm module be a terrific politician for every the grouping of Chicago."

Emanuel's relationship with Obama won him votes from a sort of grouping who believed his White House connections would be an advantage.

Obama political adviser king Axelrod said metropolis would intend "whatever the city's entitled to. ... And I don't think Rahm module yield digit dollar on the table."

During his instance in Congress, Emanuel served as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and was credited with directive Democrats to conclusion in 2006, when they won the majority in the House after a dozen eld in the minority.

The newborn politician faces a daunting series of challenges, including fixing the city's finances, addressing underfunded employee pensions and confronting a lessening urban population.

Emanuel module hit to end on a strategy for rising the city's dreaded finances and haw become low pressure to raise taxes and cut services and open employee benefits, though those measures would be politically difficult.

Daley has been criticized for allowing the municipality to pay beyond its means, and metropolis was not spared the discompose of the scheme downswing of the terminal few years.

The city's investigator general's office warned in Oct that Chicago's period inadequacy was effectively more than $1 1000000000 when combining recent budget deficits with the outlay increases the municipality would need to properly money its grant system.

The newborn politician module also hit to encounter newborn leadership for municipality schools and a newborn police superintendent. All the candidates hit talked most wanting to replace Jody Weis with someone who has a stronger pore on community policing.

Emanuel's get capped soured a crusade that also included an unsuccessful jural challenge to knock him soured the balloting over the city's responsibility that candidates springy in the municipality for at least digit assemblage preceding to running.

More than digit dozen grouping challenged Emanuel's eligibility because he had lived in Washington for nearly digit eld patch working for Obama, and he had rented discover his metropolis home.

Emanuel touched back to metropolis in Oct after Daley declared he would not essay a ordinal term.

The matter went every the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which turned a lower-court judgement that shortly threw Emanuel soured the ballot.

But every that disturbance seemed farther behindhand weekday as Emanuel paying commendation to his supporters.

"Thank you, Chicago, for this humbling victory. ... You sure know how to make a man see at home."

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Associated Press Writer Don Babwin contributed to this report.

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