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.
García said Tuesday in a note to Democratic colleagues obtained by POLITICO that he “did not circulate petitions for any Congressional campaign except my own.” But that obscures his apparent knowledge of the effort by his top aide, Patty Garcia, to get on the ballot.
A petition signature page submitted by Patty Garcia to the Illinois Board of Elections shows the representative and his closest allies, whom Chuy García has also helped get elected over the years, signed their names. They include Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya, Illinois state Sen. Celina Villanueva, state Reps. Aaron Ortiz and Norma Hernandez, and Chicago City Council members Jeylú Gutiérrez and Michael Rodriguez.
The form is dated Nov. 1, two days before the filing deadline and three days before Chuy García formally announced his retirement. Patty Garcia ultimately filed nearly 3,000 signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. The two are not related.
Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, a spokesperson for Chuy Garcia, said signing a petition is not the same as circulating them. “He did not circulate petitions” for his chief of staff’s campaign, she said.
The House is set to vote Tuesday afternoon on a measure brought by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) rebuking Chuy García’s move, which essentially ensured that Patty Garcia will succeed him as Democratic nominee and likely winner of the 2026 election.
Democratic leaders have signaled they are backing the veteran Chicago lawmaker and are whipping against the measure.
“We disagree with the resolution that’s being offered, and we should be talking about issues that affect the American people,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the third-ranking House Democrat.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misreported how many petition signatures are necessary to qualify for the ballot in the primary.
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