Poll shows Emanuel pulling away in Chicago

Rahm Emanuel may be able to clinch the Chicago mayor's office without heading to a runoff.

The former White House chief of staff has edged up to 44 percent support in a new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll. He needs to break 50 percent in the Feb. 22 mayoral primary in order to avoid a runoff vote in April.

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun was in second with 21 percent of the vote, while former Chicago Board of Education President Gery Chico was in third with 16 percent. (The Tribune has a breakdown of the results here.)

The survey of 708 likely voters was conducted Jan. 15-19 and has a error margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

Emanuel was at 42 percent in another recent survey. His campaign announced on Thursday it had raised $10.6 million as of Dec. 31.