Jesús García (politician)

Jesús García (2019)

Jesús "Chuy" García (born April 12, 1956 in the state of Durango , Mexico ) is a Mexican -American politician . As a member of the Democratic Party , he has held the fourth seat of the State of Illinois in the United States House of Representatives since January 3, 2019 . He was elected to this office on March 20, 2018 and was sworn in on January 3, 2019.

Life

García was born in the state of Durango , Mexico . His father was a farm worker in the US government's Bracero program during World War II . In 1965 the family moved to the United States with permanent resident status; to South Lawndale near Chicago . García attended St. Rita of Cascia High School , which he graduated in 1974.

He worked for the Legal Assistance Foundation from 1977 to 1980 until he received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago . After that he was deputy director of the Little Village Neighborhood Housing Service until 1984 . From 2002 he completed a master’s degree in urban planning and policy .

Jesús García has been married to Evelyn García since 1980. The couple has three children.

Political career

In 1983 García was manager for the organizer Rudy Lozano , who challenged longtime councilor Frank Stemberk . Lozano was murdered in 1983. In 1984 García challenged Stemberk in his place as a committee member of the Cook County Democratic Party . He was supported by Mayor Harold Washington , Stemberk supported Councilor Edward Vrdolyak , who controlled the city council and rejected the government of Mayor Washington. This rift within city government has been known as the “Council Wars”. García won the election with 40.62 percent ahead of Stemberk (39.77 percent). Unlike other committee members, García used his office to provide constituent services, which helped him maintain his name recognition. García has been named Deputy Commissioner of the Water Department by Washington; he held this office from 1984 to 1986.

Mayor Washington's allies sued the city in federal court because the division according to the United States Census 1980 was incorrect. Blacks and whites each made up about 40 percent of the city's population and Hispanics made up about 15 percent; there were 33 whites on the city council, but only 16 blacks and one Hispanic. Judge Charles Ronald Norgle Sr. then ordered a special election for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois , which was conducted on March 18, 1986 in seven counties. Stemberk did not run, whereupon García announced his candidacy. García won the election with 54.58 percent, ahead of Guadalupe Martinez and Fred Yanez . García was elected to the City Council of Chicago for the first time. García was re-elected in 1987 and 1991. He worked on the city council in the areas of budget, economic development and finance.

In 1992 García ran for election to the Illinois Senate in the First District and won within the Democratic Party in front of Donald C. Smith and Gilbert G. Jimenezs . With 81.74 percent of the vote, he won the election against the Republican candidate Esequiel Iracheta . García was the first Mexican American in the Illinois Senate. His protégé Ricardo Muñoz succeeds him in the city council .

In 1996, García was challenged by Juan Soliz within the Democratic Party and won the primary. In 1998 García lost the primary against Antonio Muñoz .

In 1999 he left politics and founded the Little Village Community Development Corporation (now known as Enlace ). This company employs 27 people full time and 120 part-time and has an annual budget of five million dollars . In June 2005, he helped found the Latino Action Research Network to better represent the urban population of Latinos.

On Mother's Day 2001, García and other members of the group called for the construction of a high school , which the community had promised but failed to finance. 14 parents and grandparents organized a hunger strike. While Paul Vallas, the chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools , initially refused to speak to the hunger strikers, he met with them towards the end of the first week. The hunger strike lasted 19 days and increased public pressure to fund the project. In August 2001, the new Chief Executive Officer, Arne Duncan, donated funds to help build the school.

In 2010 García won the election to the seventh district of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County in the primary against Joseph Mario Moreno and in the election against Paloma M. Andrade ( Green Party ). García was appointed parliamentary group leader by President Toni Preckwinkle .

In the runoff election for Mayor of Chicago in 2015, García finished second behind Rahm Emanuel with 44 percent of the vote .

García had been an ally of former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 US presidential election . Formerly a supporter of Toni Preckwinkle, he supports Lori Lightfoot in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election .

On November 27, 2017, Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would no longer run for the election of the fourth seat of the state of Illinois , which he had held since 1993. The next day, Garíca signaled his interest in the post, supported by Gutiérrez and Bernie Sanders. On November 6, 2018, he won the election against financial advisor Mark Wayne Lorch and was sworn in on January 3, 2019.

He works in the following congress areas:

• United States House Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy
• United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yana Kunichoff: Will Chicago Progressives Unite Behind Chuy Garcia, Rahm's 11th-hour Challenger? In: inthesetimes.com. In These Times , November 12, 2014, p. 16 , accessed April 3, 2019 .  
2. ^ Paul Merrion: Can Garcia's run for mayor fire up independents? With bid for mayor, Garcia tries to rekindle independents' fire. In: chicagobusiness.com. Crain Communications , December 20, 2014, p. 1 , accessed April 3, 2019 .  
3. ↑ WLS-TV : Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia wins IL District 4 House seat, replacing Luis Gutierrez. CHICAGO (WLS) - Cook County Commissioner Jesus' Chuy 'Garcia has won the race for Illinois' 4th District seat in the House of Representatives. In: abc7chicago.com. ABC, Inc. , November 7, 2018, p. 6 , accessed April 3, 2019 .