After months of swatting away criticism over her surprise candidacy for Illinois’ 4th Congressional District, Patty García claimed victory in the race to replace her former boss: U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García.
With 51% percent of votes in, Patty García led 68.8% to GOP candidate Lupe Castillo with 17.5% and independent candidate Chris Getty with 10.2%. Working Class Party candidate Ed Hershey had 3.5% of the vote, according to the Associated Press.
Standing in front of more than 200 supporters Teamsters Local 743 Hall on the Southwest Side, Patty García, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, declared her historic victory.
“Tonight, the people of the 4th District made a choice from Little Village to Melrose Park, from Brighton Park to Elmhurst. You made your voices heard, and yes, tonight for the first time in the history of the 4th Congressional District, we will have a woman representing us in Congress,” García said. “I want every little girl watching out tonight to know something. I may be the first, but I will make sure that I am not the last.”
Patty García said she’s going to Congress to make things better for her constituents in a poor economy.
“Groceries cost more. Rent keeps going up, and our families are working harder and harder just to get by. I’m going to Washington to fight for them. That means Medicare for all. So no one has to choose between paycheck and a doctor. It means trade that protects workers, not shareholders. It means the right to a union for every worker, and it means a government that doesn’t look the other way when corporations jack up prices, and Wall Street landlords buy up our neighborhoods,” García said.
She saved her most strident comments for President Donald Trump as she represents a district that was heavily impacted by Operation Midway Blitz.
“Let me say that clearly for those in Washington, especially the men in the White House. I have fought ICE inside a detention center, outside a detention center, while they’ve been terrorizing our communities. I’ve gone to demand the release of people taken from our streets,” García said. “ICE must be abolished. I will not stop until every single person who broke the law, violated our rights and our constitution, and those that killed Silverio [Villegas Gonzalez] pay for what they have done, and we have justice for our immigrant families.”
There has been no shortage of controversy in the race, where Chuy García’s last-minute decision to drop out of the primary race led him to helping Patty García, his former chief of staff, quickly take his spot on the primary ballot.
But Patty García ignored the noise and built major Democratic support, both in Illinois and in Washington, D.C. And while she repeatedly defended the ballot switch, which the congressman attributed to family and health issues, she has also asserted that voters were focused on other pressing issues, including constituents who were hit hard by President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign and others who are struggling to make ends meet.
She was fully embraced by Illinois Democrats after the primary, spending time campaigning with Gov. JB Pritzker and other top Democrats. She also campaigned with Rep. García, who heaped praise on her.
Patty García also racked up more than 175 endorsements from Democrats, including U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Lt. Gov Juliana Stratton and Rep. Delia Ramirez. She’s also backed by the Illinois AFL-CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor and SEIU Illinois State Council.
In announcing her run, the 41-year-old, who has worked in Chuy García’s office since 2019, vowed to continue his work fighting for immigrant and working-class families in the Southwest Side district that stretches to the western suburbs.
“My mother crossed the border, undocumented and pregnant with me. And she arrived in Chicago wearing sandals in the middle of the winter because she didn’t know about the icy, cold Chicago,” said Patty García, who has a Ph.D. in education policy. “Today, families dressed like ours are facing a new kind of ICE, an assault on immigrants that threatens everything we’ve built. That’s why I’m running for Congress.”
During the general election, Patty García — no relation to the congressman — also fended off two independent candidates who railed on what they called a Democratic machine play but ultimately failed to survive petition challenges with the Illinois State Board of Elections.