2011 Chicago mayoral election facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Chicago mayoral election, 2011

← 2007 February 22, 2011 2015 →
Turnout	42.3% 9.22 pp
Candidate Rahm Emanuel Gery Chico Miguel del Valle Popular vote 326,331 141,228 54,689 Percentage 55.19% 23.89% 9.25%   Candidate Carol Moseley Braun Popular vote 53,062 Percentage 8.97%
Mayor before election Richard M. Daley Elected Mayor Rahm Emanuel

The city of Chicago, Illinois held a non-partisan mayoral election on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Mayor Richard M. Daley, a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 1989, did not seek a seventh term as mayor.

Candidates needed to collect 12,500 petition signatures by November 22, 2010 to qualify for a place on the ballot. April 5, 2011 was scheduled to be a runoff election date if no candidate received a majority.

Rahm Emanuel won the race for mayor with more than 55% of the vote. He was inaugurated on May 16, 2011.

Six candidates appeared on the February 22 ballot:

• Gery Chico, former chief of staff to mayor Richard M. Daley and former chairman of the City Colleges of Chicago
• Miguel del Valle, City Clerk of Chicago and former Illinois State Senator
• Rahm Emanuel, former White House Chief of Staff and former U.S. Representative from Illinois's 5th district
• Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. Senator from Illinois and former United States Ambassador to New Zealand
• Patricia Van Pelt Watkins, non-profit administrator and activist
• William "Dock" Walls, community activist, businessman, former aide to Mayor Harold Washington and perennial candidate

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  Chairman
  Gery Chico

• 

  City Clerk
  Miguel del Valle

• 

  Former Chief of Staff
  Rahm Emanuel

• 

  Former U.S. Senator
  Carol Moseley Braun

• 

  Activist
  Patricia Van Pelt Watkins

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  Businessman
  William Walls