NATION : Heavy Vote in Chicago Mayor Race

Voters turned out in heavy numbers today to decide whether Richard M. Daley should inherit his father’s political mantle and end black control of the mayor’s office.

“Now I got two votes,” Daley joked after he and his wife, Maggie, voted late this morning.

The first few hours of voting indicated that 70% of the city’s 1.56 million registered voters would go to the polls, said Tom Leach, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. “That’s a pretty good vote, third highest in history for a municipal election,” he said.