WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia’s ploy to hand-pick his successor for his Illinois seat has sparked a war of words between congressional Democrats. The divisions come at the exact time the party is trying to unify behind issues like health care, affordability and releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.
On Wednesday night, just as the House was prepared to vote to reopen the government, a fellow Democrat, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state, took to the floor and ripped into Garcia, sparking shock and outrage from many of her Democratic colleagues. Both are members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Gluesenkamp Perez, known as MGP on Capitol Hill, offered a House resolution disapproving of Garcia’s actions this fall when he filed paperwork to run for reelection in 2026, then announced he was retiring after the filing deadline. Meanwhile, his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, had filed her own paperwork to run for the seat just hours before that same Nov. 3 deadline, ensuring that she would be the only Democrat on the ballot running for that deep-blue Chicago-area seat. The two are not related.
MGP read her resolution, which accused Garcia of “undermining the process of a free and fair election,” and that his actions are “beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the Constitution.”
As she concluded, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., immediately went to speak to her. Because it is a privileged resolution, it must receive a vote and could come to the floor early next week.
Garcia has said he abruptly announced his retirement due to health issues and other personal reasons. And he acknowledged that he set the stage for his top aide to run for his seat.
Chicago-style 'machine tactics'
On Thursday, other Democrats piled on Garcia, while some rushed to his defense.
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who was elected with Garcia to the House in 2018, praised Gluesenkamp Perez’s resolution and blasted Garcia’s actions as “undemocratic.”
“Rep Chuy Garcia’s decision to end his re-election at the last second and plant his chief of staff as the only candidate to succeed him was undemocratic and should not be allowed,” Kim posted on X in response to a video of her floor speech. “Standing against corruption means standing up no matter which political party violates. The House should condemn and steps need to be taken to restore the people’s right to choose.”
And Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who advised many clients in Chicago including Barack Obama, slammed Garcia’s move as Chicago-style “machine tactics” and “election denial of another kind.”
“I’ve known Rep. @ChuyGarcia for decades & like him. But I agree w/@RepMGP, who filed a motion of rebuke today over Garcia’s use of old-style, Chicago machine tactics to ensure his chief-of-staff would be the only name on the Dem ballot,” Axelrod wrote on X. “It’s election denial of another kind!”
For the past five years, Democrats have labeled Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as election denialism and subverting democracy. But this is a rare instance where they’ve used those terms to describe one of their own.
However, Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Hispanic Caucus member and Chicago Democrat like Garcia, lashed out at MGP for being just one of six House Democrats who voted Wednesday night for the package to reopen the government. That included a provision allowing senators to sue the government for up to $500,000 per violation if their phone records are accessed without their approval. It applies retroactively to 2022, when then-special counsel Jack Smith obtained phone records of a handful of GOP senators in his Jan. 6 investigation.
“Going after a strong progressive Latino leader the same day that you vote for a slush fund for Republicans involved in January 6 does not scream democratic values,” Ramirez wrote on X.
“@RepChuyGarcia has been an unwavering fighter for our democracy and our communities. It is disappointing that someone willing to compromise working families’ healthcare would use this moment for a cheap political stunt aimed at distracting people from an indefensible vote on tonight’s CR.”
Personal setbacks
As Rep. Garcia explained it, a series of recent setbacks caused him and his wife to reevaluate his reelection bid after he had filed paperwork to run for a fifth term. Garcia, 69, had a conversation with his cardiologist who told him, “you need to get serious about your health so you can walk those grandkids into adulthood.” And then his wife of nearly 50 years told him the next day she didn’t want him to run; she has had multiple sclerosis for 15 years and her condition is deteriorating. Their daughter died two years ago, leaving four children behind, and they just completed the adoption of one of them, an 8-year-old boy, he said.
Garcia said he will finish his term, which runs through early January 2027.
“Those were just really big factors in me deciding that I could not, in good conscience, do it again, and decided … that the only recourse we had was to look at an option. And that’s when I thought that we could try to get my chief, Patty Garcia, on the ballot,” Garcia explained in an interview with the Illinois political newsletter Capitol Fax. “My decision was based on love for my family, for my community.”
In a statement, Gluesenkamp Perez called Garcia’s explanations for leaving office “honorable” but added that “his decision to anoint an heir is fundamentally undemocratic.”
“This is the kind of thing that makes folks tune out of electoral politics. And frankly, who’d blame them? If we fail to hold our colleagues accountable for this subversion of elections, we own the consequences,” the congresswoman said. “Americans bled and died to secure the right to elect their leaders. We can’t expect to be taken seriously in the fight for free and fair elections if we turn a blind eye to election denial on our side of the aisle.”
Garcia mimics his predecessor
Garcia ascended in much of the same way. He succeeded longtime Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a liberal firecracker who in a last-minute procedural move, suddenly withdrew his nominating petitions for reelection in 2017 and threw his backing behind Garcia. As he gave a tearful retirement announcement, Gutierrez stood beside Garcia, greasing the way for the longtime organizer to step into his shoes. Before that move, Garcia was on the short list to potentially again run for mayor after forcing former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a run-off election in 2015.
A longtime Chicago Democratic political operative long supportive of Garcia said many progressives were angered over Garcia’s decision.
“There are up-and-comers who’ve been waiting in line,” the Democratic source said.
Ultimately, however, Garcia proved he is a Chicago political animal, his detractors said.
“We are just coming off the heels of a 'No Kings' rally, just coming off the heels of a demonstration saying that we believe in democracy, we believe in the Constitution, we believe in the United States — to pull such an underhanded maneuver to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters across the district, it really earns the rebuke that it’s getting,” said Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez, who challenged Garcia unsuccessfully in 2024.
Lopez said he would have considered running for the post had Garcia given notice. “It’s very disappointing to see Chuy’s career as a progressive end in such a typical machine fashion with him choosing to disenfranchise the voters of the 4th District so that they only have one Democratic choice to replace him.
“The former poster child of progressivism and independent politics has taken a page from Mike Madigan and cherry-picked his successor, coronating her and all under the guises this was some big Surprise, which it clearly was not,” Lopez said, referencing the now imprisoned longtime speaker of the Illinois House.
One House Democrat close to Garcia said he was “plain wrong” to give his chief of staff “an edge that was not available to any other candidate.”
“But I think it’s important to acknowledge Chuy is in a really difficult moment in his life. He made a decision that, while not illegal, is not good. But it was not corruption,” the lawmaker said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The House lawmaker had tougher words for Gluesenkamp Perez, who they said is trying to build her political brand at the expense of others and was going after Garcia “all for show.”
“She’s a f—ing lawmaker for God’s sake! If you don’t like what he did, do something to prevent anyone in the future from doing it. Write a law, craft an amendment, do something meaningful that will actually change things and actually matter,” the Democrat said.
When asked about these comments, a Gluesenkamp Perez spokesman did not respond.
Alderman Jeanette Taylor, a longtime Garcia ally, defended the congressman. She said those opposing the pick should organize and run their own candidate.
“I have the utmost respect for him. And if he is making a decision, he is making the decision on what he thinks is best for the community,” Taylor said. “He has served. He has worked, he has stood by, he has stood up. And so he’s allowed to do that. Whether they agree with his decision or not.”
