Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are supposed to be chosen by the voters, which means outgoing representatives don’t get to choose their successors. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. But Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who represents Illinois’ 4th congressional district, decided he would do just that.
Here’s how the scheme worked. Rep. Garcia filed to run for reelection in his district on Oct. 27. That was a clear signal to other Democrats that he intended to hold the seat and not to think about running against him. The filing deadline was one week later on Nov. 3. But on Friday Oct. 31, three days before the deadline, Rep. Garcia started collecting signatures to get his own chief of staff, Patty Garcia, (no relation) on the ballot. Getting her on the ballot required her to submit 2,500 signatures in favor and Rep. Garcia’s name was the first one on the list.
new – Rep. Chuy García has denied purposely clearing a path for his chief of staff to take his seat without facing a primary, but a document filed with Illinois elections officials shows he was the first to sign her nominating petitions, days before he announced his retirement. pic.twitter.com/sGcSzh9fvl
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) November 18, 2025
Patty Garcia submitted her paperwork on Nov. 3, just a few hours before the filing deadline. Rep. Garcia then announced his decision to step down once the deadline had lapsed.
Many observers called this a coronation since Rep. Garcia had effectively made sure no one else could run other than his hand-selected successor.
The controversial and last-minute decision drew some jeers, including from Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), who challenged Garcia in last year’s election.
“Chuy coronates his Chief of Staff to replace him using same machine tactics that got him the seat from Luis Gutierrez, denies a true open primary like every other congressional district race but hey, #NoKings right? #Hypocrites,” Lopez wrote on social media.
Emmy Ruiz, who served as White House political director and special assistant to former President Joe Biden, called the move “disappointing” and a “coronation.”
Rep. Garcia has been a fighter for our community, and yet how this final decision came down — with a coronation instead of an open primary between so many incredible leaders in this district is so disappointing.
— Emmy Ruiz (@emmyruiz) Nov 2, 2025
Garcia claimed he had done nothing wrong and was only retiring last minute because of his wife’s poor health. However, he also admitted in an interview that he was surprised no one caught on to all the signatures he was raising over the weekend for his chief of staff.
Garcia said his organization collected 2,500 signatures for Patty Garcia (no relation) over the weekend, so he said he was also surprised that nobody figured it out before he dropped the bombshell late Monday afternoon.
“I kept looking at my phone every little while [during the weekend], because I expected calls from mayors, trustees, political operatives, or just some of our super voters to see if everything was OK, or if Patty Garcia had gone rogue or something, or we had had a falling-out.”
But he said, “Not one call.”
Even if you believe that Rep. Garcia made his decision to step aside on Friday Oct. 31, there’s no doubt that he waited to announce it so he could have his chief of staff run unopposed.
I guess you can *claim* you care about democracy while cooking the books to deprive voters of choices and potential candidates of the chance to run — but at that point why bother? Are we the baddies indeed
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) Nov 17, 2025
A couple of fellow Democrats refused to let Rep. Garcia’s machine politics go unnoticed.
The House advanced on Monday a resolution to disapprove of conduct by Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García over the timing of his announcement to not seek reelection…
Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, a Democrat who introduced the measure, spoke out in favor of the action on Monday at the Capitol.
Here’s what Rep. Gluesenkamp-Perez said yesterday.
FULL REMARKS: In House floor remarks on Monday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) slammed fellow Democrat Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) for his actions announcing his retirement when only his chief of staff could succeed him.
— Forbes Breaking News (@ForbesTVNews) Nov 17, 2025
For her efforts she got yelled at on the House floor.
A truly hilarious Dems in Disarray moment on the House floor tonight: Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez introduced a resolution condemning her fellow Democrat Rep. Chuy Garcia for announcing his retirement on the day of the filing deadline in Illinois when the only person on the ballot was his Chief of Staff. Every single member of the Democrat caucus then stood up and condemned PEREZ for introducing the resolution– not Garcia for corruptly picking his successor. Here’s a sample of their interactions tonight..
— Greg Price (@Greg_Price11) Nov 16, 2025
House Minority leader Rep. Jeffries also came out against the reprimand.
“I do not support the so-called resolution of disapproval, and I strongly support Congressman Chuy García. He’s been a progressive champion for disenfranchised communities for decades, including during his time in Congress. And he’s made life better for the American people,” Jeffries said.
He released an additional statement on Tuesday morning alongside Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., urging opposition to the resolution.
“He is a good man who has always prioritized the people he represents, even while experiencing unthinkable family tragedy. We unequivocally oppose this misguided resolution and urge our colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus to reject it,” they wrote.
Today, a group of Democrats joined Republicans and the reprimand of Rep. Garcia passed.
The House voted to pass a resolution of disapproval against Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, a measure that was led by one of his fellow Democrats — moderate Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.
It passed in a 236 to 183 vote, with 23 Democrats voting with the GOP to rebuke García. Four lawmakers voted “present” — Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Adam Gray, D-Calif., and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.
So there you have it. This was an extremely dishonest move by a Chicago politician and it worked. Democratic leadership wanted to give him a pass because he’s a progressive but a few Democrats joined Republicans to state their disapproval of a lawmaker gaming the system to choose his own successor.
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