Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia’s chief of staff launched her campaign on Wednesday to succeed her boss in Congress, a move that has sparked both hope and controversy given the Illinois Democrat’s last-minute decision to retire from the House.
Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, kicked off her campaign to represent Illinois’ 4th District, where she was born and raised by her Mexican immigrant parents. The district in Chicago’s southwest side is heavily Hispanic and reliably blue.
“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,” she said, surrounded by labor leaders and downballot progressives.
“Today, families dressed like ours are facing a new kind of ICE, an assault on immigrants that threatens everything we’ve built,” she continued. “That’s why I’m running for Congress.”
The candidate began serving as Chuy Garcia’s district director in 2019, rising to become his chief of staff in 2023. With the congressman backing her campaign, Patty Garcia would likely be the first Mexican American woman to represent the Midwest in Congress.
