CHICAGO_Jesus "Chuy" Garcia took a commanding early lead Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for Illinois' lone Latino-majority congressional seat as he seeks to replace the retiring U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez.
Garcia, who has served as a Cook County commissioner on the Southwest Side for the past seven years, had collected 67 percent of the vote compared with 21 percent for Logan Square nonprofit executive Sol Flores with 75 percent of precincts reporting. Chicago police Sgt. Richard Gonzalez finished a distant third, with 12 percent, according to the early unofficial results.
Garcia's bid for the Democratic nod in the earmuffs-shaped 4th Congressional District has been aimed at uniting his Mexican-American base centered in the city's Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side with voters predominantly of Puerto Rican and Central American descent on the Northwest Side. Garcia, who arrived in Chicago as a 5-year-old immigrant from Durango, Mexico, would become the first Mexican-American to represent Illinois in Congress if he holds onto his lead.
Garcia and his supporters were expecting a raucous evening at Apollo's 2000, a century-old Art Deco movie house renovated into a banquet and dance hall on Cermak Road in Little Village. By 6:30 p.m., strobe lights were already flashing, with TVs hung from the ceiling and walls spread across the hall ready to report the results as they filtered in. A DJ started the music at 6:45 p.m., occasionally fidgeting with the volume, even though most of the party guests weren't expected to begin arriving until 7:30 p.m.
Lined on three fold-out tables were roughly 90 boxes of Domino's pizza, stacked in nine piles in front of signs for the slate backed by Garcia, including a top aide of his he hopes replaces him, Alma Anaya, and county assessor candidate Fritz Kaegi. A bartender stood waiting to help guests wash the pizza down with a well-stocked cash bar.
A win in the Democratic primary Tuesday serves as all but a shoo-in for election to Congress in the deep blue district. Little-known Mark Wayne Lorch of Riverside ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
A Garcia rise to Congress was unthinkable just three months ago, when he was ramping up for a 2019 run against Mayor Rahm Emanuel after forcing him into a runoff in the 2015 city election. Then came the surprise retirement of Gutierrez, a 64-year-old oratorical firebrand who said he was stepping away from Congress to travel the country in support of pro-immigrant causes and to help rebuild his ancestral homeland of Puerto Rico.
In true Chicago political tradition, Gutierrez quickly moved to anoint a successor in Garcia, who the congressman declared would be a champion for immigrants and hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Other contenders, though, quickly jumped in, including Alderman Proco "Joe" Moreno, 1st; Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th; Alderman Raymond Lopez, 15th; and Flores, the founder and director of La Casa Norte, a community organization that helps homeless children and families on the Northwest Side. As Garcia solidified his support in the district and emerged with a large lead in the polls, the three aldermen dropped out.
Gutierrez and Garcia trace their political roots to the 1980s coalition that brought Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor, into office. The two, however, haven't had a lot in common since as Gutierrez climbed the political ladder by embracing the Democratic Party establishment while Garcia took a more progressive bend.
Garcia, 61, served as 22nd Ward alderman for more than six years, then served in the Illinois Senate for another six years before being ousted in the primary by a challenger backed by Mayor Richard M. Daley. Garcia resurfaced two years later, in 2011, winning his County Board seat.
Even in recent elections, Gutierrez and Garcia have been on opposite sides of races. Gutierrez backed Hillary Clinton for president while Garcia endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who returned the favor by endorsing Garcia last month. Gutierrez backed Emanuel for mayor in 2015 while Garcia ran against him, leading some to question whether a behind-the-scenes deal was cut for Garcia to move to Congress while sparing the mayor another challenge.
"No deals," Garcia said emphatically when Gutierrez endorsed him. "Absolutely not. There is no quid pro quo."
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