Illinois Rep. Chuy Garcia gets Democratic challenger for 2024 primary

A Democratic challenger has stepped up to run against Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL) in the 2024 primary, setting up a showdown between two Democrats on opposite sides of the party’s spectrum.

Alderman Ray Lopez, who represents Chicago’s Southwest Side and is an avid supporter of the police union, said Garcia is “extreme” and tried to paint the incumbent as too progressive for the residents of Illinois’s 4th Congressional District.

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“He has chosen to try to lead from the left of the Left, and in the meantime, he has left everyone else out in the cold,” Lopez said while speaking to supporters, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The 4th Congressional District is one of two districts in the state drawn to elect a Hispanic candidate to Congress. However, Lopez has an uphill battle when it comes to defeating Garcia in the primary. Despite a lackluster performance in the 2023 mayoral race, Garcia has a strong support system and political organization within his district.

Garcia and Lopez both ran for mayor of Chicago in the 2023 election. Lopez went on to endorse Paul Vallas and Garcia endorsed Brandon Johnson, who defeated Vallas in the mayoral runoff election in April.

Lopez ran a tough-on-crime platform during his bid for mayor, criticizing the high rate of police leaving the force during the Lightfoot administration. He frequently went against the agenda of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who was also regarded as one of Chicago’s most progressive mayors. Lopez opposed the city’s employee vaccine mandate and frequently spoke out against Lightfoot’s handling of the rioting and looting stemming from protests in the summer of 2020.

Johnson will likely return the favor and endorse Garcia, which could significantly affect Lopez’s chances in the primary. A lack of fundraising assistance from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has a policy of backing incumbents, will make it difficult for Lopez to get off the ground as well.

Some of Chicago’s largest unions, including the Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employees International Union and its affiliates, are likely to back Garcia, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

However, Lopez told supporters that the race “needs a moderate leader to match the moderate views” of 4th Congressional District voters.

“After walking the district for the past few weeks, I’ve heard directly from residents who feel as though they don’t have a voice in their current representative,” Lopez said. “They feel that the politics has gotten too extreme. That Democrats have been left out in the cold or marginalized because they’re not taking some of the more extreme positions that we’ve seen come out of the socialist and super-progressive movements over the last few years.”

Lopez added that he is a “better fundraiser on the small-dollar level” than Garcia.

“He’s gonna rely on mega-PACs to try and save him. He relies on multimillion-dollar checks to be written to cover him, but this isn’t about him,” Lopez said. “This is about the district. And no amount of money is going to protect him from his record and his wanton abandonment of his duties in the 4th District.”

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Manny Diaz, Garcia’s campaign manager, dismissed Lopez’s congressional bid as “nothing more than an attention-grabbing stunt.

“It’s crucial to underscore the stark contrast between our integrity and the cloud of corruption in which Lopez has chosen to operate,” Diaz said in a statement via the Chicago Sun-Times. “The choice is clear: A proven record of integrity, dedication, and results versus a perennial candidate riding on the coattails of Ed Burke, one of the most disgraced politicians in Illinois history. Our campaign’s dedication to serving the people speaks volumes, and we won’t be distracted by political maneuvers.”