Ten days ago, it looked as though Jesús "Chuy" García had a good shot at becoming Chicago's first Latino mayor. But incumbent Rahm Emanuel is now ahead of the Cook County commissioner by a double-digit lead, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

In a Chicago Tribune poll conducted between March 6 and March 11, 51 percent of likely voters said, if the election were held on the day of the survey, they would vote for Emanuel; 37 percent, meanwhile, said they would support García.

The runoff mayoral election is set to be held April 7, and Emanuel's numbers seem to improve as Election Day approaches. García's level of support has not dropped, but the commissioner has not been able to add supporters, either.

Experts noted García needed to win over black voters in particular if he was to have a shot at ousting President Barack Obama's former chief of staff, who has led Chicago since 2011. But so far, the challenger apparently has not been able to overcome tensions between the black and Hispanic communities, which date back to the 22-year reign of Richard Daley.

The longtime mayor's administration was frequently accused of favoring Latinos for city jobs, Reuters noted. But Emanuel, too, has alienated many voters in predominantly black wards, where he is blamed for a persistently high crime rate and the shutdown of 49 schools in mostly poor areas.

In the five-way contest last month, Emanuel pocketed 45.6 percent of the vote, while 33.5 percent of Chicagoans supported Garcia, Bloomberg reported. The incumbent would have needed a majority to avoid the April 7 runoff.

Both García and Emanuel on Friday continued to try to woo voters as they unveiled their respective economic plans for the city, Chicago's ABC 7 noted.

"My budget and pension framework builds on our accomplishments of the last four years -- four balanced budgets and three pension agreements with organized labor," Emanuel claimed.

García, meanwhile, insisted he was opposed to reducing benefits of current retirees.

"We will have conversations in a collaborative manner with labor, with other stakeholders, as we move forward as it relates to new employees," the commissioner promised.

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