LATINO CHALLENGER JESUS 'CHUY' GARCIA PRESSES CHICAGO'S MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL IN RUNOFF ELECTION

CHICAGO (AP) - Before he decided he wanted to become Chicago’s mayor, Jesus Garcia was best known as a mild-mannered activist and legislator who dropped by businesses in his Mexican-American neighborhood to talk to people about their problems and how he could help.

To neighbors and other pols, he was “Chuy,” a nickname that captured his informal style.

Now Garcia, 58, surprisingly has a shot at defeating incumbent Rahm Emanuel in a runoff election next month. And he’s under pressure to show that he’s more than a nice guy, and that his community-level resume translates into running a city of roughly 2.7 million people with serious financial problems and tensions over what sacrifices to make.

Garcia, who won 34 percent of the vote to finish second to Emanuel in the five-candidate first-round vote, presents a sharp contrast to his famous opponent. The hard-edged Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff and Democratic fundraiser, is backed by President Barack Obama and many of the city’s business leaders and has raised roughly $15 million in campaign funds.

Garcia, a county commissioner and former alderman and state senator, is a product of his neighborhood and his progressive activist past. He’s raised less than $2 million overall.

“I understand how the city functions. I relate to the daily realities that people experience in Chicago,” said Garcia, who has...