Ordinarily, the decision of an elderly member of Congress to retire is unremarkable. In the case of Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, however, there is much to be said.
While Garcia has only been in the House since 2019, he has been in Chicago politics since the 1980s, serving at all levels of government. The district he represents is heavily Democratic, so much so that he’s won the last two elections with two-thirds of the vote. So, when he indicated he would seek re-election and submitted the paperwork to do so, no other Democrat bothered to file to run. Or so it seemed.
Just ahead of a candidate filing deadline, his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, no relation, submitted paperwork and the required number of signatures to run for the seat in the Democratic primary. Then, with the filing period closed, Rep. Garcia announced he wouldn’t be running for re-election after all.
With his staffer uncontested in the Democratic primary, in a heavily Democratic district, Rep. Garcia effectively cheated his constituents out of a truly democratic contest so his staffer could be a shoo-in to replace him.
We get that it’s Chicago, but come on.
Some House Democrats saw this for what it was.
Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington was so troubled she introduced a resolution condemning Rep. Garcia’s actions. “Election subversion is wrong no matter who’s doing it,” she argued.
On Tuesday, the resolution passed, with 213 Republicans and 23 Democrats voting to condemn Rep. Chuy Garcia for subverting democracy. The vast majority of the Democratic caucus, 183 members, voted against it, choosing party over country.
House Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar of the Inland Empire complained, “we should be talking about issues that affect the American people.” Apparently free and fair elections in America are not a concern for Democratic leader Aguilar, who voted against the resolution.
Rep. Scott Peters of San Diego was the only Southern California Democrat to vote for the resolution.
“I am profoundly encouraged to have been a small part of the long work of affirming that in America, we choose our leaders,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez on X after the vote. “Thank you to the 22 Democrats who stood with me.”
While Democrats have spent the last decade lecturing the country about democracy, it turns out most Democrats in Congress can’t be bothered to hold their own accountable when they undermine it.