Politics
Macías, Sigcho-Lopez Talk Next Steps After Ballot Removal in Race to Replace ‘Chuy’ García
The competition to take over U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García’s seat was thinned out this week after Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) and Mayra Macías were removed from the ballot for failing to secure enough valid petition signatures.
State law requires independent candidates to collect a minimum of 10,816 valid signatures, a little more than 15 times the amount required by candidate Patty García, who needed 697 signatures to secure her spot as the Democratic nominee.
The Illinois State Board of Elections said that discrepancy exists because major-party candidates already have established voter support while independents do not and also don’t participate in a primary election.
Both Sigcho-Lopez and Macías submitted 17,304 signatures, the maximum number allowed. Upon review, the board found that Sigcho-Lopez was short 1,222 signatures while Macías’ campaign came up 1,058 signatures short.
Now they’re both sounding the alarm on the “political machine,” saying their campaigns were targeted and singled out by the board of elections, Patty García and her former boss, “Chuy” García (no relation).
In a statement, a spokesperson for the board said: “The Illinois Election Code states that the Illinois State Board of Elections ‘shall have general supervision over the administration of the registration and election laws throughout the State, and shall perform only such duties as are or may hereafter be prescribed by law.’ Signature requirements for candidates contained in the Illinois Election Code are set by the Illinois General Assembly, not the State Board of Elections. The State Board of Elections works diligently to conduct all objection proceedings with efficiency, transparency and fairness in accordance with the Illinois Election Code.”
Patty García’s campaign in a statement said: “The Board of Elections reviewed their signatures and found many of them to be fraudulent and not valid. Petition review is a normal part of the democratic process and the Board of Elections made the right decision based on the law. Patty’s focus is on the people of the 4th district and helping Democrats flip the House in November.”
Sigcho-Lopez and Macías joined “Chicago Tonight” to break down what happened and their next steps. Here’s some of what they said:
Byron Sigcho-Lopez
On not meeting the minimum signature requirements:
Sigcho-Lopez: “As an elected official, democracy died yesterday in the 4th Congressional District. There were 30,000+ voters who deserve to have democracy, not controlled opposition. There is a big difference. When we see our families being chased like animals, death squads coming in and killing parents, I think that they took away the right to choose our representatives. Our self-determination was taken away and it takes away the spirit of democracy. We registered hundreds of people to vote, young people, and our community deserves better. What a terrible way for congressman García and Patty García to leave, especially when I continue to see the lies, like that this was not premeditated, every single excuse that we hear, and worse to say that we don’t have the support of the people where between the Democrats and Republicans, they collected barely over 1,000 petitions. We collected over 30,000. That tells you a lot about the issue with democracy that we have in the state of Illinois today.”
On exploring legal action:
Sigcho-Lopez: “It’s clear that access to the ballot in Illinois, where we have a majority of Democratic leadership in the Senate and House, the governor’s office, it is clear that we do not have a democratic process that is fair, equitable and transparent, right? I think that this is the moment where we need people that we can trust, that we know we’re fighting for working people. We cannot fight for working people and say that we also fight with democracy when we’re doing these tactics, right? I do think this is the moment where we need changes. We’re going to file at the federal level and also challenge the state laws. This is a right to self-govern, and it was taken away from Latino representatives, and this is simply to benefit the status quo, a broken system that needs to change, and we’ll make sure to do so.”
On potentially running as a write-in candidate:
Sigcho-Lopez: “We’re still talking about the legal options and also the next steps, but I’ll tell you, as an immigrant father who has seen Juan and Lorenzo have been killed by death squads, I don’t feel that our state is doing enough to protect our communities. I think that our community deserves better. I would say that Patty García is a fraud, and I think that fraud will never be an option to what we see in our country, the fascism, Trump authoritarianism. I don’t think that anybody feels safe in our state. I don’t think we’re doing enough, and this certainly is adding insult to injury to residents, to people in our community who deserve the same right as any other community. There were five open seats in this election. We were the only ones that did not have a democratic election. Rigged in March, rigged in November.”
On the Nov. 3 election:
Sigcho-Lopez: “I encourage them to make sure that they see the dirty money coming into this race. I think it’s important that we condemn and reject AIPAC money, that we condemn super PAC money. Also, voters have to see what candidates said. I think when we see the continued gaslighting and lying, I mean, Patty García knew that this was an election that needed to be done by the voters. On Friday, the days before the congressman retired, she was the only person who knew about this. What does it say about someone who hides information from the public? We need to scrutinize these candidates. Patty García also told us when I was collecting petitions that she was going to allow an election in November. She didn’t do it. So what does it say about candidates that say one thing but do another one? Look at the money, look at the actions, and we will continue organizing. We’re going to make sure that the residents talk about the issues of wars, of the issues of working people. We need to stop the genocides. We need to stop the madness in our country and start by organizing.”
Mayra Macías
On not meeting the minimum signature requirements:
Macías: “Yesterday’s decision was such a loss to democracy and to the over 30,000 voters who were supporting the alderman or myself. So I felt disappointment, but also frustration because there are so many people who want to see options in November and they’re losing out on that.”
On why their campaigns were challenged:
Macías: “It’s very clear that Patty doesn’t think she can win this election at the ballot box and instead (would) rather spend resources litigating it in courtrooms. It’s not a coincidence. The two Latino candidates in the most Latino district in the state of Illinois were kicked off. I think it’s very obvious why the alderman and myself were kicked off.”
On Patty García’s campaign statement:
Macías: “I think it is very convenient to abide by the law when it benefits you. Speaking of the law, it’s also against the law to use congressional staffers during work hours to try to kick off candidates from the ballot, and so I actually filed an ethics complaint with the House of Representatives Office of Ethics because I think that if we’re going to talk about rules and laws, then we should uphold them equally, not just when it behooves a candidate.”
On potentially running as a write-in candidate:
Macías: “I am ready to explore various options. What is fundamental to me is that we are centering working people because there’s so many people that I met across this campaign who want change, who are hungry for anti-corrupt politicians. They want people who actually use government as a lever for change, and so I’m talking to folks to see what is the best way to continue doing that work, because with or without a title, my goal and my commitment to my community was to serve, so we’ll continue considering options, including legal options.”
On changing the signature requirements:
Macías: “I would also add that beyond the inordinate amount of signatures that independent candidates have to get, there’s a cap on how many signatures we’re able to submit. Because when we decided to run, when I decided to run, I was told this was impossible, but we got the maximum allowed. If we had been able to get 20,000, we would have submitted 20,000, but you have a cap of 17,304, which doesn’t give you a lot of wiggle room.”
On the Nov. 3 election:
Macías: “People need to remember that they have the power. This goes beyond a political candidate, a campaign or a party. They have the power on Nov. 3, and they need to exercise their right to vote. Whether they want to write in a candidate or not, they need to use their vote because this is why we’re in this situation.”
