Civibus

Biography

Jesús G. "Chuy" García ( CHOO-ee; born April 12, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 4th district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, as well as in the Illinois Senate and on the Chicago City Council before his election to Congress. He was also a candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2015 and 2023. Throughout his career in Chicago and national politics, he has been described as a progressive. García was first elected to the Chicago City Council in 1986. During his time on the city council, he was known for being a staunch ally of Mayor Harold Washington. In 1992, he became the first Mexican-American member of the Illinois State Senate. He was defeated in his reelection bid to the state senate by Antonio Munoz in the 1998 primary. In 2010, García was elected to the 7th district of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. He ran for mayor of Chicago in 2015, losing to incumbent mayor Rahm Emanuel in a runoff. In 2018, García was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding ally Luis Gutiérrez. He ran again for mayor of Chicago in the 2023 election, challenging incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot, but placed fourth in the first round. On November 3, 2025, he announced he would not seek reelection in 2026. By delaying his decision until after the filing deadline, García effectively cleared the field for his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who became the only Democrat on the ballot to succeed him. The maneuver was widely viewed as an attempt to engineer his own succession and deny voters a competitive primary, prompting criticism from local and national political figures. The House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the move on November 18, 2025, 238–186.

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