Democratic Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García confirmed Tuesday that he will not seek reelection next year in Illinois, making his plans known after the filing deadline and thus creating an apparent glidepath for his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, to succeed him.
In an interview with Illinois-based Capitol Fax, García said he decided not to run again after discussions with his family and his cardiologist.
“My decision was based on love for my family, for my community, and for, you know, not just someone who talks about family values and fights for families, but being about it,” García said.
Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, filed a statement of candidacy with the Illinois Board of Elections just before the deadline Monday. That created the expectation that the congressman would soon withdraw from the race for Illinois’ 4th District, essentially anointing his successor.
His political operation did not immediately respond to queries from CQ Roll Call, but García said he understood that some people would think his decision cut off their opportunity to run.
“I respect their views. I can see why they would do that, but I think I followed the rules,” he said in the Capitol Fax interview. “I followed the filing calendar and, of course, took time to reflect on making this choice, because it came as a shock to all of our supporters, it’s still shocking many of our allies.”
García is not the first House member to seek to effectively clear the field for a successor with a late retirement announcement. Just last year, Florida Republican Rep. Bill Posey declined to seek reelection and backed Mike Haridopolos just before the deadline to get on the primary ballot. Haridopolos went on to win Posey’s seat last fall.
With his retirement announcement, García becomes the fifth Democrat from the Chicago area to opt against seeking reelection to the House next year. Democratic Reps. Janet Schakowsky and Danny K. Davis are retiring, while Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly are running for Senate.
García has long been a fixture on the Chicago political scene.
His political involvement began during his years at the University of Illinois in Chicago, when the Mexican-born García was an organizer for workers’ rights and more inclusive city services.
In 1984, he won his first elected office as leader of the Cook County Democratic Party, and gained a reputation for successfully coalescing Chicago’s Latino and African American communities. He went on to serve as an alderman on Chicago’s City Council and later as an Illinois state senator and Cook County commissioner.
He first ran for Chicago mayor in 2015, when he forced Democratic incumbent Rahm Emanuel into a runoff, which Emanuel won with 55 percent of the vote.
Though he did not win his mayoral bid, García proved his ability to drum up votes among Chicago’s Hispanic population and kept a lead in 12 of the city’s 13 majority-Hispanic wards at the time. He drew attention from establishment Democrats with his approach, as he relied heavily on the Chicago Teachers Union and service employees for support.
Less than four years later, he was elected to Congress, succeeding Democratic Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez. He’s had no trouble winning reelection to his Hispanic-majority district, which now includes southwestern Chicago and suburbs to the west. García took nearly 68 percent of the vote last fall in winning his fourth term.
García sought the Chicago mayorship for a second time in 2023, but finished fourth.
Illinois has been among a handful of Democrat-led states facing party pressure to redraw their congressional maps to counter similar Republican-led efforts across the country. While the filing deadline to get on the 2026 ballot in Illinois has passed, some national party figures, such as Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, say the door isn’t fully closed on mid-decade redistricting there.
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