Chicago has become a madhouse.

Exclusive poll: Karen Lewis could give Rahm run for his money

For the past couple of weeks, Karen Lewis has been saying she is “seriously” considering running for mayor.

It turns out voters are taking the fiery Chicago Teachers Union president’s potential candidacy seriously as well.

And Mayor Rahm Emanuel probably should, too.

At least that’s what a surprising new Early & Often Poll suggests.

If the mayoral election were held today, the lightning rod union leader who was the architect behind a 2012 teachers’ strike would beat Emanuel by 9 percentage points in a head-to-head contest, the survey found.

Lewis was leading Emanuel 45 percent to 36 percent with 18 percent of the likely voters undecided.

And Emanuel could face an even steeper hill if he faces Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, long considered his most formidable challenger.

A head-to-head contest found Preckwinkle in a romp vs. Emanuel by a stunning 24 points.

Preckwinkle dominated with 55 percent of those surveyed. Emanuel notched just under 31 percent.

“Laughable” is what Emanuel’s camp called the results of the automated telephone poll, conducted for the Sun-Times’ political portal by We Ask America.

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From the Huffington Post here's a snippet of Ms. Lewis' leftist mindset: 

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis is no stranger to her outspokenness landing her in the headlines -- but many conservatives are particularly miffed by a comment she made during a labor event last month.

In the clip, recorded Dec. 2 during her keynote address of the Illinois Labor History Society's Union Hall of Honor dinner and posted on YouTube Monday, Lewis noted that an earlier generation of labor leaders resolved their differences with the rich with a very straightforward mantra: "Off with their heads."

"Do not think for a minute that the wealthy are ever going to allow you to legislate their riches away from them," Lewis told the audience at the event. "However, we are in a moment where the wealth disparity in this country is very reminiscent of the robber baron ages. The labor leaders of that time, though, were ready to kill. They were. They were just -- off with their heads. They were seriously talking about that."

"I don't think we're at that point," Lewis added. (Watch the clip embedded above, watch Lewis' full keynote speech.)