At least five candidates are hoping to spoil efforts by Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García’s hand-picked successor to win a congressional seat this November.
The deadline is May 26 for independent candidates to file at least 10,816 valid petition signatures with the Illinois State Board of Elections. That hefty number is required in Illinois for independent bids — and the state is seeing plenty of challengers who say García’s last-minute decision to help his chief of staff get on the ballot as the Democratic nominee for the 4th Congressional District was a key factor in efforts to enter the race. The congressman said his health factored into the decision.
For her part, Patty García — no relation to the congressman — has been running full steam since the fall and has picked up the support of established Democrats, like the backing of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Democratic Senate candidate Juliana Stratton and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. She also has the support of labor unions, including the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Illinois AFL-CIO.
Patty García denies the last-minute ballot switcheroo is top of mind for constituents as she’s knocking on doors. Instead, she says they’re worried about the Trump administration’s ramped-up deportation efforts and the cost of living.
“I’ve been knocking on doors since November. I’ve yet to hear from a single person about the process, or about anything like that,” Patty García said. “The only thing that I hear from people is struggling to pay for rent, struggling to pay for medicine, afraid about immigration coming back. And the main question that I get, I’ll be honest, the question that I get is, ‘Are you a Democrat?’ Yes. ‘Alright. That’s all I need to know.”
Mayra Macias, former teacher
Mayra Macías, who launched an independent bid in December, is a Back of the Yards native and a former teacher who served as a field organizer for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She also served as executive director for the Latino Victory Project and is endorsed by Planned Parenthood and End Citizens United.
Macías says she has surpassed the number of petitions needed to get on the ballot, and she called the process both “reaffirming” to get to speak directly with voters and also “frustrating” for having to collect 15 times the amount of signatures that Democratic candidates have to get.
“We have knocked on almost 40,000 doors to be able to get the number that we’re at today, and have traveled all over the district,” Macías said. “…Across the district, I think the feeling that persists is just being overwhelmed by the cost of living, by the sense of helplessness. So it is, for me, very reaffirming to talk to voters and feel their excitement about the possibility of new leadership and really pouring their hope into me in the campaign.”
Macías credited Rep. García for building a pipeline of Latino leaders during his years in Congress, but said she’s disappointed the process wasn’t open when it came down to choosing his successor.
“I’m sure there would have been Latino leaders in that pipeline who would have stepped up to run for this seat,” Macías said. “And one of the disappointing parts is, what are we depriving this district of? Like all of the work and investing in leadership and not having the ability to see it come to fruition.”
Chris Getty, suburban mayor
Lyons Mayor Chris Getty filed his petitions on May 18, marking the first independent to file for the race. Most candidates wait until the deadline — to give lawyers less time to comb through their petitions should there be a challenge.
Getty said he hit the ground running with petitions, often circulating at polling places for early voting and on Election Day. He said he collected 3,300 signatures on Election Day alone.
Getty in November wrote a scorching Chicago Tribune op-ed piece criticizing Congressman García for his last-minute decision not to run — and perhaps setting the stage for his own candidacy.
“It’s a move right out of the playbook of machine politics, anointing successors rather than letting the democratic process determine them,” Getty wrote in the piece.
Getty told the Sun-Times Rep. García hasn’t produced enough results in his eight years in office.
“What he fumbled the football on, I don’t know if it was intentional or an accident, is really he’s always tried to be an advocate for the Hispanic community, but then it’s never come with results,” Getty said. “So I think across the board, there’s many different ethnicities and individuals in this district that want to see comprehensive immigration reform, and I think that will be a main driving part of my work as a congressman, to bring that to life.”
Getty, who was elected mayor in 2009 at the age of 26, said he thinks being from the suburbs could be seen as a strength in the district that has traditionally been represented by Chicagoans.
“When you break down the district, the majority of the voters in both the primary and the general are in the suburbs, and then the polarity of that grows in the general, where more voters come out in the suburbs than the city. The city’s vote goes down and in the suburbs, it increases,” Getty said. “So I see it as a benefit.”
Byron Sigcho-Lopez, City Council member
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) was the first to announce interest in an independent bid in November, a day after the controversial petition deadline. Sigcho-Lopez said voters he’s speaking to are worried about voting rights — and he says they’re “frustrated and angry that the election in this 4th Congressional District was rigged.”
“People are ready to have real representation and it’s reflected on our petitions,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “We hope to file by the 26th and we’re encouraged by the number of small donors. We have over 1,300 donors and small donors almost from every single state in the country, and it’s exciting that we were able to get a fundraising quarter that was very competitive with the Democratic nominee that was anointed.”
Sigcho-Lopez says he’s raised close to $150,000.
“We are the only district without an open primary, even though we are the district that by far was the most affected. The murder of Silverio Villegas González, the shooting of Marimar Martinez, many other shameful attacks by ICE on our community, so I think that the community is ready to see a fighter that puts the interests of our communities ahead of the interest of the party of the billionaire class,” Sigcho-Lopez said.
Other potential candidates include Lindsay Church, a veteran who runs a nonprofit serving minority veterans. Church has declared candidacy as an independent in the race — and also attended an April 29 campaign forum at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Campaign priorities include ending Citizens United and congressional stock trading, expanding civil rights protections and ending immigration enforcement crackdowns.
Ed Hershey, of the Working Class Party, has filed petitions to run. Hershey already was planning to enter the race when Rep. Garcia made his decision. Lupe Castillo is the Republican candidate in the race.