Patty Garcia wins race to replace Chuy Garcia in Congress, AP projects
CHICAGO - Patty Garcia won her bid to replace her former boss, U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, in the 4th Congressional District, beating out a field with three other candidates, according to The Associated Press.
Members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms.
The 4th Congressional District spans parts of Chicago’s Southwest Side and portions of the south, southwest and western suburbs.
The district stretches from as far north as the Northlake and Franklin Park area, to Oak Brook in the western suburbs, runs through major Latino-heavy communities in Berwyn and Cicero, and extends as far east as South Halsted Street in Chicago and as far south as suburban Burbank.
A controversial race
The backstory:
Garcia, no relation to the sitting congressman, overcame criticisms that she was handed the office after Rep. Garcia’s last-minute decision not to run for reelection, leaving her as the only Democrat on the primary ballot back in March.
Chuy Garcia cited health concerns and the need to care for his ailing wife and a grandchild in his explanation for why he's retiring from Congress.
That political maneuvering prompted not just pushback, but also bids from independents looking to challenge Garcia. Ultimately, she won out, defeating Republican Lupe Castillo, Ed Hershey, of the Working Class Party, and Lyons Mayor Chris Getty, who ran as an independent.
Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez and Mayra Macias also attempted to get on the ballot as independents, but were ultimately denied after challenges to their petitions proved successful.
For Chuy Garcia, his controversial exit marks the end of a political career that spanned more than 40 years, during which he helped elect Harold Washington as Chicago’s first Black mayor. He also served on the Chicago City Council, the Cook County Board, and in the Illinois Senate. Garcia also ran twice for Chicago mayor himself, even taking then-sitting Mayor Rahm Emanuel to a runoff election in 2015.
Patty Garcia’s career and positions
Dig deeper:
Still, Garcia has touted her résumé working for elected officials and on policy issues spanning transportation, infrastructure and education, according to her campaign biography.
She ran Chuy Garcia’s district office and rose to become his chief of staff, and also holds a PhD in educational policy studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Garcia has also taken several progressive positions, like raising the federal minimum wage, expanding union rights, providing a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally, abolishing ICE, implementing "Medicare for All," overhauling campaign finance laws, and stopping all US military assistance to Israel, calling its actions in Gaza that have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians a genocide.
Her win in a solidly blue district won't be key in changing the control of power in Congress, but Garcia will likely join a Democratic majority poised to challenge the Trump administration on a number of issues.
The new members of Congress will be sworn in on Jan. 3.