Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia survives primary challenge from Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez, AP projects
CHICAGO (CBS) – U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia defeated a Democratic primary challenge from Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) in the race to represent the 4th Congressional District in Tuesday's election, the Associated Press projected.
With nearly 60% of the votes counted on election night, Garcia was pulling in around 70% of the vote. Garcia is the incumbent representative in Illinois' 4th Congressional District that borders Burbank and Midway Airport to the south, Halsted Street to the east, Oak Brook to the west, and just shy of O'Hare International Airport into Franklin Park to the north. Garcia was first elected to Congress in 2018.
Lopez was considered a more moderate Democrat. He helped lead the failed effort to end Chicago's sanctuary city status and has served on the City Council since 2015.
In remarks to supporters, Garcia touted his support for a litany of progressive priorities from gun control to immigration reform to protecting abortion rights.
"Tonight, we showed everyone across the country paying close attention to this race that hate and the right-wing attempt to hijack our movement will not succeed," Garcia said.
In an interview with CBS 2, Garcia said there was "unfinished business" left for Congress to tackle, including making items like groceries, gas, and healthcare more affordable.
While Garcia will almost certainly win the general election with no Republican on the ballot for Tuesday's primary, his party will try to claw back control of the House of Representatives. The Republicans hold a slim 219-213 lead. With President Joe Biden in the White House and Democrats holding narrow control of the Senate, Congress has been unable to pass major pieces of legislation this term, including a bill that would have addressed the ongoing border crisis.
When asked about the issue and how it has affected large cities like Chicago that have seen an influx of asylum seekers, Garcia said he will continue to urge the Biden administration to help ease the burden on local governments to care for the new arrivals.
"I believe the federal government has a responsibility to provide more help to Chicago, to New York, to other cities as well," he said. "If we provide the opportunity for work permits for all immigrants, including the newly arrived, we won't have this fiscal strain that Chicago's experiencing."
Tuesday started with a dramatic accusation from Garcia's camp alleging that Lopez's campaign brought food, coffee, and even cash to election judges. Lopez called the accusations a smear campaign and said he provided coffee, doughnuts, and money for lunch to judges because they were working long days and the Board of Elections did not have the budget to feed them.
Garcia's campaign said the Board of Elections was investigating the matter. Max Bever, a spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Elections, said it's common for food and drinks to be brought to judges because the board doesn't provide them with lunch or beverages. He did not comment on the specific allegation of cash being distributed and said the board is not an investigative body.
When asked about the allegation, the Board of Elections referred CBS 2 to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, which declined to comment.
The candidates' stances varied on everything from how to handle migrants to how to handle the Israel/Hamas war. Garcia is calling for a cease-fire. Lopez is calling for the full support of Israel.
The two agreed that the biggest threat to democracy comes from inside our borders. But while Lopez says both parties' extremism and misinformation campaigns are at fault, Garcia points to one party. They largely agreed on supporting Ukraine and chipping away at the $1.7 trillion deficit, though they have different approaches on how to do it.
