Obamas Have Yet to Vote on Chicago Mayor

President and Mrs. Obama have requested absentee ballots for the February 22nd municipal election, but according to the White House, have not yet voted.

In a meeting with reporters today, First Lady Michelle Obama said she plans to vote in the mayoral primary, but wouldn't say for whom she'd be casting her ballot.

"I'm not telling you who I voted for. I haven't voted yet," said Mrs. Obama. "I haven't voted yet. But my vote is mine, too."

The president's former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is the front-runner in Chicago, and while Mr. Obama has not been out on the campaign trail for the mayoral candidate, Emanuel's team used some of the president's own words in a radio spot last month.

"When I first started assembling this administration, I knew we were about to face some of the most difficult years this country has seen in generations," the president said at Emanuel's October going away party. "I needed somebody at my side who I could count on to help get the job done. There was no candidate for the job of Chief of Staff who would meet the bill as well as Rahm Emanuel. And that's why I told him he had no choice in the matter. He was not allowed to say no."

Early voting started in Chicago last Monday for candidates Emanuel, former Chicago schools president Gery Chico, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun, and City Clerk Miguel del Valle.