In a tight mayoral race that left everyone in suspense in the Windy City of Chicago for the last six weeks, Rahm Emanuel won a second term in office with a victory Tuesday over opposing candidate Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in Chicago's first-ever mayoral runoff election.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Emanuel had garnered 55.7 percent of the unofficial vote, giving the incumbent mayor and former Obama chief of staff a 10-percent edge over the 44.3 percent gained by Garcia, the Cook County, Illinois commissioner, with approximately 95 percent of the city's precincts reporting after the polls closed Tuesday night.

Garcia conceded the race to Emanuel around 10 p.m. EST Tuesday night.

In a speech to his supporters following the race, Garcia congratulated Emanuel and thanked all those who voted for him.

"I'd like to tell you a story. It's a story of a little boy and a big city," Garcia told his supporters in an emotional concession speech. "Nearly 50 years ago, this little boy came to the city from another land. And the people of this city, warm and kind and loving, welcomed this boy. Nurtured him. Taught him right from wrong. Gave him opportunities he could not have imagined.

"This city and its people have welcomed children from other lands just like this little boy for nearly 200 years. The city is Chicago, the people are each and every one of you, and that little boy now all grown up with kids and grandkids of his own, stands before you humbly and gratefully as a candidate for mayor."

Garcia also took to social media to thank his supporters for all their help during the election.

"While we fell short tonight, I'm confident that the message we sent will resonate across Chicago and across the nation. We will continue to organize to make our city work for everyone. We will continue to fight for working people and for families. Thank you for all your work over the past 6 months," the message read on Garcia's Facebook Page.

In his victory speech, Emanuel congratulated Garcia on a hard-fought campaign, calling Garcia a "good man who clearly loves the city of Chicago and clearly loves his family."

Emanuel also praised the city of Chicago, noting the unique diversity involved in this mayoral election campaign that, he said, was unique to the spirit of the Windy City.

"Around the world, there is no other city where an immigrant from Mexico (Garcia) and the grandson of an immigrant from Moldavia (Emanuel) could both run for the highest office of this great city. That is why we are the greatest city. Because here in Chicago, there are immigrants who come for the promise, the promise of Chicago, that if they work hard, they love their kids and give them an education, that their kids can take them as far as their dreams have, and that is what this election showed."

It was not an easy road to reelection for Emanuel. While he earned 45.6 percent of the vote in the first round of elections to Garcia's 33.5 percent, Emanuel fell short of the 50 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff election.

Along the way in the weeks leading up to the Tuesday election, Emanuel, whose trademark feisty, often abrasive style was well-known even during his days with the Obama administration, had to face tough questions on his "tough guy" image while coming under fire from the Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employees International Union, the latter which aired TV ads accusing Emanuel of ignoring city neighborhoods and backing the wealthy and the Second City's downtown area.

The closing of 50 public schools in largely African American neighborhoods, a teachers strike, spikes in crime on the south and west sides of the city and the installation of red light cameras across the city under his watch also put the incumbent mayor on the defensive.

Emanuel also faces sizable challenges in his second term, including a $300 million shortfall in the city's operating budget for the current fiscal year that will continue to pose serious economic issues for Chicago.

Still, the reelected mayor said he would take on those challenges, but would likely have to do it in a different way than he approached things in the past.

"Chicago, I hear you," he told supporters at his victory speech. "I'm proud of what we have accomplished, but I understand the challenges that we face will require me to approach them differently."