Let the Games Begin

Nominating petitions have begun to be filed:

• Chicago voters are starting to get a glimpse at how the many candidates vying to be their next mayor are measuring up — literally — against one another.

  Mayoral contenders wheeled in tall stacks of thousands of nominating petitions, submitting them to election workers ready to size them up with wooden rulers at a Downtown office building Monday. It’s the start to the weeklong filing period for the February election that will help whittle down the crowded race for mayor by filtering out those who fail to collect the 12,500 valid signatures needed on those petitions to make the ballot.

So far, the following have filed for the mayoral election in February:

• Alexi Giannoulias
• Mike Quigley
• Willie Wilson
• John Kelly
• Matt Brewer

Conehead did not file petitions. Neither did Pappas or Mendoza.

And there are some polling numbers out (no link for these):

• Giannoulias was the choice of 25% of likely voters, according to the new poll, ahead of Johnson at 13.6%. Mendoza (9.5%) and Wilson (6%) were the only others to top 5% in the polling, while 34% of likely voters said they’re still unsure of who they would vote for.

55% of those surveyed weren't at all enthusiastic about Conehead, so his numbers will probably stay exactly where they are. 

That 34% undecided isn't likely to put anyone over the 50%-plus-1 threshold to avert a runoff.