Southwest Side Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez launched an independent run for Congress Wednesday against the chief of staff for outgoing U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in the November general election. Sigcho-Lopez billed his campaign for Garcia’s 4th Congressional District seat as an effort to unhors e the old guard. Garcia, a Democrat, announced he would not seek re-election just hours before the party primary filing deadline, leaving no time for other hopefuls to get in the race for the suddenly vacant seat as his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, became the only candidate in the Democratic primary. “We are not tied down by party rules, we are not waiting for the Democratic Party to give us permission,” Sigcho-Lopez said Wednesday as he announced his candidacy. Sigcho-Lopez is not expected to be alone in running as an independent in November for the 4th Congressional District seat. In early December, Mayra Macías, who grew up in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and went on to become executive director of the Latino Victory Project and Building Back Together, a dark-money group established to promote President Joe Biden’s domestic policy agenda, announced she planned to run. A self-described “lifelong Democrat,” Macías was spurred to run by García’s last-minute handoff to his chief of staff. Democrats “can’t effectively fight Trump’s attacks on our democratic system if we’re turning a blind eye to anti-democratic actions here at home by our own party,” she said in a December statement announcing her candidacy. On Wednesday, Macías, citing a Politico report, criticized Patty García for failing to file personal financial disclosure documents required for federal candidates and accused her of using “the same old political machine tactics” in “a deliberate attempt to hide who she is accountable to.” García’s campaign did not respond immediately Wednesday to a request for comment. Sigcho-Lopez and Macías must each collect at least 10,816 petition signatures by May 26 to earn spots on the general election ballot, according to Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson Matt Dietrich. Patty Garcia, who is not related to the outgoing congressman, needed only 697 signatures to make the ballot in the Democratic primary. The independent candidates can start collecting signatures on Feb. 25. Sigcho-Lopez shared harsh criticism Wednesday of President Donald Trump and called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prosecution of federal immigration agents. In Congress, Sigcho-Lopez said he would fight to end tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and dramatically expand social services in housing and healthcare. He pitched himself as aligned with working-class labor unions and street protesters pushing back against Trump. “You deserve a congressperson who shares your fight, who shows up alongside you in the streets and who makes sure your sacrifices are not in vain,” he said. “We can refuse to let anyone diminish our humanity, or justify genocide, or be rewarded by greed.” Garcia’s controversial succession plan drew a rare reprimand by the U.S. House of Representatives. Over 20 Democrats broke ranks to join Republicans in the 238-186 vote to rebuke Garcia. For his part, Sigcho-Lopez is no stranger to controversy. A Democratic Socialist unafraid to upset opponents, the Pilsen alderman’s forceful rhetoric has sparked headlines in recent years. He weathered his own censure vote in the City Council in 2024 after speaking at a small protest where an American flag had earlier been burned by a veteran opposed to American support for Israel’s war efforts in Gaza. Sigcho-Lopez said at the time that he did not see the charred remains of the flag. Last February, he apologized after appearing to call another alderman a “white supremacist” during a debate. In November, he appeared to shout questions at Gov. JB Pritzker during a Little Village appearance over the governor’s opposition to Johnson’s corporate head tax. “As you all know by now, I’ve never been one to be quiet about injustice or to go along to get along,” Sigcho-Lopez said Wednesday, to chuckles from the supporters surrounding him inside a Pilsen restaurant. The sort of sharp quips that have at times landed him in hot water filled his launch speech, an early effort to prove, it seemed, his pledge to enter Capitol Hill a fighter. “Billionaire pedophile human traffickers are running the United States government and shamelessly profiting from it,” he said. “Denying science and, like pirates at night, unleashing terror and kidnappings abroad and at home to extract oil and colonize free countries like Palestine, Greenland or Venezuela.” ...read more read less