CHICAGO — A political action committee focused on Latino voters is trying to nudge Congressman Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia toward running for mayor.
According to a poll commissioned by the Nuestro PAC, Garcia is virtually tied with Mayor Lori Lightfoot atop the field of mayoral candidates.
Garcia will face votes this November as he seeks his third term in Illinois’ 4th Congressional district. Considered a safe congressional district, Garcia can keep his seat and then later decided to enter the 2023 race for mayor since the filing deadline for next February’s mayoral contest is Nov. 28.
“I’ve got to decide soon, but I don’t want to pressure myself,” Garcia said earlier this month.
Other candidates showing early moment include Willie Wilson and Paul Villas, both of whom have already launched campaigns.
Political analyst Christopher Mooney said even though Lightfoot is vulnerable, it’s not surprising that only a handful of candidates are polling within striking distance at this point in the election process.
“You have an incumbent who has low approval ratings and that is like blood in the water to politicians,” Mooney said. “They say, ‘oh, this is a possibility I might be able to win here,’ so a lot of people throw their hat in the race early on. See if they can get some traction, see how fundraising goes … who they can get to endorse them, support them, so forth. A bunch of them will drop out.”
As the field jockeys for position, the Nuestro poll showed the top issue for Chicago voters remains crime.