The House advanced on Monday a resolution to disapprove of conduct by Rep. Chuy Garcia over the timing of his announcement to not seek reelection.
The last-minute announcement meant that only Garcia’s chief of staff was able to mount an effort to replace the Chicago representative.
“We are not here to adjudicate the character of Chuy Garcia,” said Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, a fellow Democrat who brought the resolution. Perez said she introduced the motion, which was opposed by nearly all of the Democratic caucus, “with humility, fear and conviction.”
She later added: “No good work means you are able to end your career with impunity and choosing your successor.”
Garcia, 69, turned in his nominating petitions for the primary ballot on Monday, Oct. 27, the first day of the Illinois State Board of Elections filing period. A week later on the last day of filing, his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, submitted her own to enter the 4th District race after a furious weekend effort to gather 2,500 signatures.
The congressman didn't announce the plan publicly, opting for sporadic interviews with local media outlets. He said the decision to leave politics culminated from a confluence of health and family concerns during the “most stressful" week of his life.
He said his wife, who has multiple sclerosis, suffered a medical setback and asked him not to run. Then his doctor raised concerns about his heart health. In the same time frame, the couple finalized the adoption of their 8-year-old grandson. They have been raising grandchildren after the death of their daughter, Rosa, in 2023.
“My cardiologist, the first day that I filed my petitions, told me that I need to take care of myself and I need to find something else to do,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday. “It was a hell of a week.”
Still, the political maneuver immediately fueled criticism about Chicago-style politics with the congressman essentially anointing his chief of staff to public office.
Garcia called the criticism fair.
