Mendoza emerged, early in her campaign, as one of the race's leaders in both polling and fundraising. In November and December 2018, publicly released polls consistently showed Mendoza and Toni Preckwinkle to be the top two polling candidates. At this point, the media was characterizing the race as a matchup between her and Preckwinkle, with the two being seen as the race's front-running candidates. Mendoza remained a top contender in polls released in January 2019, but was no longer consistently in the top-two. In February, Mendoza did not place in the top-two in any polls. (see 2019 Chicago mayoral election polls)
