Chicago mayoral election: New poll shows Lightfoot in third behind Vallas, Johnson

CHICAGO - A new voter opinion survey conducted by M3 consultants finds Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson leading the nine-candidate contest for mayor of Chicago.

FOX 32 News has obtained exclusive details of the polling.

Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Vallas emerges as the clear frontrunner, with Teachers Union staffer Johnson leading a three-way battle for second place. Should no candidate receive at least 50% plus one vote next Tuesday, the top two finishers will compete in an April 4th runoff election.

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When M3 contacted 416 likely Chicago voters this week, it asked whom they supported for mayor. The initial questioning found Vallas at 32%, Johnson 18%, Mayor Lori Lightfoot 14%, and Congressman Chuy Garcia 12%. Fourteen percent were undecided.

When the undecided voters were forced to pick a candidate – as they must in order to cast a mayoral ballot by Tuesday – it was Vallas 33%, Johnson 20%, Lightfoot 18%, and Garcia 13%. Given that the survey is accurate to within plus or minus 4.8 percentage points, Johnson could be in a statistical with Lightfoot and/or Garcia.

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About four percent of respondents completed the survey in Spanish, while the rest did it in English.

This is the latest poll to challenge Mayor Lightfoot’s claim that the contest is now essentially a two-person battle between her and Vallas.

"I’m the only one that has the chance and the opportunity and the certainty of beating back Paul Vallas," Lightfoot declared this week.

Congressman Garcia responded Wednesday: "The mayor likes to construe things to put herself as a contender. I think she has serious problems. She's not had a good week — a good week and a half, as a matter of fact. She's trying to hang on for dear life."