Emanuel faced stiff competition from Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia, who took 34 percent of the vote.
Garcia did best in majority-hispanic precincts.
The Chicago mayoral election in 2015 revealed stark political and racial divides—divides that have grown only sharper since the election.
On February 24, 2015, facing four challengers in a non-partisan election, Chicago’s embattled mayor, Rahm Emanuel, won only 46 percent of the vote—less than the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
Emanuel did best in the majority-white precincts on the North side.
Emanuel faced stiff competition from Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia, who took 34 percent of the vote.
Garcia did best in majority-hispanic precincts.
Chicago businessman Willie Wilson came in a distant third, taking 11 percent of the vote.
Wilson did well in majority-black precincts.
On April 7, 2015, Emanuel won 56 percent of the vote in the runoff election, making in-roads in majority-black precincts.
Garcia, taking 44 percent of the vote, did far worse than Emanuel in majority-black precincts.
Turnout increased city-wide in the runoff election, but in majority-black precincts, turnout grew by far less than it did in majority-white or majority-hispanic precincts.
Here is where Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, was shot sixteen times by the Chicago Police Department. He was killed in October, 2014, but the tape that showed his death wasn’t released until November, 2015—well after the elections. Had the tape been released sooner, the political uproar that followed it could have easily tipped the balance away from Emanuel.