Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced into a runoff election after failing to capture a majority of the city's votes on Tuesday.
According to ABC's Chicago affiliate WLS-TV, Emanuel received roughly 200,000 votes to capture 45 percent of the ballots, with Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia capturing roughly 150,000 to lock up over 33 percent. The rest of the ballot was split by multiple candidates.
Emanuel and Garcia will go head-to-head in a runoff April 7.
Emanuel's failure to win outright in the first round "was a serious blow after a campaign in which Mr. Emanuel had a huge fund-raising edge over lesser-known opponents,"
reported The New York Times.
By some measures, Emmanuel raised more money than his four rivals combined, pouring $7 million into campaign advertising. While Emmanuel dominated the airwaves with multiple commercials — one included an endorsement from President Obama — Garcia only ran one TV ad.
Politico reported that "the result is also a disappointment for Obama," who "flew into Chicago to give the mayor a boost" on Thursday.
Association with Obama was toxic for fellow Democrats in the November midterm elections, and it is unclear whether his endorsement in the Windy City race helped or hindered Emmanuel, his former and first chief of staff.
This fall, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn lost to Republican Bruce Rauner, for instance, after Rauner successfully tied Quinn to the president's policies.
In August, after Obama intervened on behalf of Incumbent Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a family friend, the governor lost in the primaries.