* Heather Cherone at WTTW…

U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García is the “front runner” in the race for Chicago mayor, according to a new poll commissioned by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 obtained Monday by WTTW News.

“Chuy Garcia is the frontrunner today in the race for Chicago mayor, leading Mayor Lori Lightfoot by 7 points in the first round and 31 points in the second,” the poll concludes. “He is the most popular candidate for mayor and is the favorite to win.” […]

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who has the backing of most of Chicago’s progressive organizations, the Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employee International Union Local 73 and SEIU Healthcare Illinois, is largely unknown. More than 70% of Chicago voters do not have an opinion on his candidacy, according to the poll.

More than 70% of voters rated crime and public safety as their No. 1 or No. 2 most important issue, with no other issue coming close, according to the poll.

* OK, let’s focus on crime and public safety. Here’s how the polling question was asked…

Of the following, which would you say is the most important issue in Chicago for the Mayor and City Council to address?

You will recall that crime was not a huge issue for voters in the fall campaign except in Chicago, where it consistently ranked at the top of the list. But now, when the question is about what city leaders should be doing, it has rocketed up even further.

57 percent said their number one issue was “crime and public safety.” Affordable housing and homelessness was second, but it came in at just 10 percent.

As noted in Heather’s article, when you combine respondents’ first and second choices, crime and public safety came in at a whopping 71 percent. Affordable housing and homelessness was still second at 24 percent. Again, when you combine 1st and 2nd choices together, schools and education were next at 22 percent, inflation and rising costs were at 19 percent, taxes were at 17 percent, jobs and the economy were at 14 percent, government corruption and ethics were at 11 percent, racial equity was at 10 percent and roads and infrastructure were at 7 percent.

Also of note, respondents were read favorable talking points about some of the candidates and then they were asked to reevaluate their votes. The needle barely moved on any of the candidates.

* I was asked not to post the poll itself, but here is the polling memo…

• Garcia is in first place, ahead of Lori Lightfoot and Paul Vallas. In a full, ten-way vote Garcia comes in first with 25% followed by Lightfoot (18%), Vallas (14%), and Wilson (10%), while 14% are completely undecided. No other candidate garners more than 10%. Garcia leads with Latinos, leads among both college-educated and non-college whites, and is tied for second with Black voters (32% Lightfoot / 18% Garcia / 18% Wilson).

• Garcia is broadly popular across groups. He is broadly popular with white (53% fav / 32% unfav), Black (58% fav / 21% unfav), and Latino (60% fav / 30% unfav) voters. His support spans ideology, with good numbers among self-described progressive Democrats (74% fav / 12% unfav) and moderate/conservative Democrats (50% fav / 31% unav).

• Lori Lightfoot is deeply unpopular. Voters rate her job as Mayor negatively by 40 points (29% positive / 69% negative). 84% of white voters and 72% of Latinos rate her job as Mayor negatively, while Black voters are closely divided on her (50% positive / 48% negative).

• In a runoff, Garcia leads Lightfoot by a whopping 31 points (55% Garcia / 24% Lightfoot). He is tied among Black voters, up 52 among whites, and up 40 among Latinos. He leads her in the Lakefront (+52) and on the Northwest side (+51).

* More runoff results…

Lori Lightfoot 38%
Willie Wilson 37%
[VOL] Undecided 24%

Lori Lightfoot 34%
Paul Vallas 41%
[VOL] Undecided 25%

Lori Lightfoot 24%
Chuy Garcia 55%
[VOL] Undecided 21%

Lori Lightfoot 31%
Pat Quinn 37%
[VOL] Undecided 32%

Quinn has dropped out, but I included him to give you an idea of how unpopular Lightfoot is, except maybe when it comes to Willie Wilson.

…Adding… Wanted to front-page something I wrote in comments…

Just because people say public safety is a top issue, that doesn’t mean they’re siding with Dan Proft and Darren Bailey’s version of how to deal with crime.

The people in the city and elsewhere are generally ahead of the mainstream media on this topic. It ain’t the 1990s any longer. And addressing it is not an either/or choice.