9:09PM EST: Rahm Emanuel is out to an early lead in the Chicago mayor’s race tonight. With 84 percent of precincts counted, Emanuel had 54.9 percent to 24.3 percent for Gery Chico.

Emanuel is trying to score more than 50 percent to avoid a runoff election on April 5.

 Major contenders Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico, Carol Moseley Braun and Miguel del Valle fanned out across the city on Election Day looking for last-minute votes.

Emanuel is at a Near West Side union hall, Chico at a downtown hotel, Braun at a South Side ballroom and del Valle at a microbrewery.

Despite a tremendous amount of attention on the mayor’s race and a slew of hotly-contested aldermanic races, election officials say turnout could be as low as 40 percent. That’s far less than the 50 percent turnout officials were hoping for on Monday.

If no candidate scores a majority tonight, the top two finishers will square off for six more weeks of campaigning. A runoff election will be held to determine Chicago’s next mayor.

Mayor Richard Daley, who is out of town today, isn’t on the ballot for the first time since 1989. He’ll leave office on May 16 when his successor is sworn in.

(Source: Chicago Tribune)