By Ray Hanania
When Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia abandoned his progressive principles to rig the 2026 election system in favor of his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, he was making a clear statement that the interests of voters do not matter as much as his own interests and the interests of his minions.
This is a guy who championed voter rights almost for the entire period of his political career, until he rigged the system this year to ensure that his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, would be the only person to file as a Democrat in the Nov 3, 2026 election after his “last-minute” decision to retire and not seek re-election.
That kind of deceitful conduct is exactly what Garcia had fought against during his political career, but unashamedly embraced when it suited his personal benefit in the end.
While Jesus Garcia spent decades pretending to be a progressive who cared about the voters, his “handpicked” successor Patty Garcia is doing everything possible to pretend like her corrupt political coronation didn’t happen and that she is a champion of protecting and preserving Democracy.
It’s not surprising that the biggest hypocrites have no shame in making ridiculous statements that openly contradict their actions, like this Facebook post by Patty “The Political Insider” Garcia recently to hypocritically ride on the coattails of the razor-sharp election victory of Abdul El-Sayed for the office of U.S. Senate in Michigan:
“Two problems with elections today, big money and insider politics. Insider politics is the same as “big money,” and that means that Patty Garcia is no different than the oligarchs who are trying to buy elections … Michigan sent a message: people beat big money. Abdul El-Sayed’s victory is proof that our democracy belongs to voters—not billionaires. In IL-04, we’re fighting for the same thing: a government that answers to working people—not wealthy special interests or the consultant class.”
Patty Garcia and Jesus Garcia are unrelated, except through their partnership to undermine Democracy and falsely claim to be fighters against President Trump’s many hypocrisies, which parallel Garcia’s hypocrisies.
Patty Garcia conspired with Congressman Jesus Garcia to intentionally prevent any of the voters in his 4th Congressional District from being able to collect signatures and then file to succeed him, but allowed Patty Garcia to collect signatures and be the only person to file on the final date of filing when Garcia announced he wasn’t seeking re-election.
With no notice to the public, and an affront to the fundamental principles of Democracy, Congressman Garcia made sure that Patty Garcia, his chief of staff, would be the only person to file.
It was so unDemocratic and showcases her rhetoric as being the height of hypocrisy and the most disrespectful to citizens, taxpayers, and voters in the 4th Congressional District.
To aggravate this conspiracy to deny the taxpayers and voters their Democratic rights — that Patty Garcia attempts to hijack through her twisted political narcissism — Patty Garcia and Jesus Garcia had minions, including some paid on the congressman’s staff, file challenges against two Hispanic candidates who filed as Independents after the Garcia outrage.
They knocked off Mayra Macias and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez off the November 3, 2026 General election ballot. Sigcho-Lopez has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Election Board challenging the removal and to restore him to the ballot.
Those challenges by the “Garcia Gang” are antithetical to the fundamentals of Democracy that Patty Garcia’s fabricated and false attempts to embrace. Tragically, Jesus Garcia will forever be remembered as the selfish politician who undermined the election rights of voters and Hispanics.
Patty Garcia is no different. If anything, Patty Garcia is guilty of the very issues she unsuccessfully has tried to condemn. Her insider politics is no different than those who wish to harm Democracy by buying elections (that she complains about) using massive amounts of funding. Buying elections is no different than the insider undermining of elections. Both deny voters the right to choose their candidates freely.
The Garcia political assault against the voters in the 4th Congressional District against Macias and Sigcho-Lopez leaves only one traditional candidate on the ballot who can prevent the Garcia power grab, Chris Getty.
Getty is popular with all the voters, including the Hispanic community. Getty serves as mayor of the Village of Lyons, which is 52 percent Hispanic, and the supervisor of Lyons Township, which is 30 percent Hispanic. He clearly has a history working closely with the Hispanic voters to ensure their rights are respected, something the Garcia Cabal has aggressively failed to do.
The Garcia Cabal may think they cleared an orchestrated path to retain selfish control over the 4th Congressional District, which is 66 percent Hispanic, but Getty’s strong Hispanic base makes him the only traditional candidate who stands with the fundamental principles of Democracy that Patty Garcia has disgraced.
On November 3, 2026, show Patty Garcia that she can’t buy the election with her insider political machinations nor with her campaign war chest.