Chicago Polls Give Daley a Double-Digit Lead

DEMOCRATIC mayoral candidate Richard M. Daley is maintaining a comfortable lead over his two opponents as the April 4 election draws near, according to two new polls. A poll in Sunday editions of the Chicago Sun-Times showed Mr. Daley with a 21-point lead over independent candidate Timothy Evans, while a poll in Sunday's Chicago Tribune showed him leading Mr. Evans by 14 points.

According to the Sun-Times poll, 51 percent of the electorate favor Daley, compared with 30 percent for Evans and 6 percent for Republican Edward Vrdolyak. Thirteen percent were undecided.

The Tribune showed Daley on top with 48 percent and Evans second with 34 percent. Four percent preferred Mr. Vrdolyak, and 14 percent were undecided.

Evans dismissed the polls as inaccurate and said he wasn't worried.

``The only poll that matters is the one that's going to be taken on the fourth of April,'' Evans told supporters. ``And that's the one we're going to win.''

Evans, Vrdolyak, and Daley are vying for a chance to complete the final two years of the second term of Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor, who died of a heart attack in November 1987.

Both polls showed Evans, the only black candidate in the contest, with a heavy lead among blacks, while Daley, the son of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, has overwhelming support among Hispanics.