The controversial hand-picked successor to Democratic congressman Jesús “Chuy” García is officially being challenged.
Mayra Macías is a longtime Democrat and Chicago native who worked on Latino advocacy and promoting former President Joe Biden’s agenda. She announced her bid to run as an independent in Illinois’ 4th Congressional District on Wednesday. If elected, Macías said, she will caucus with Democrats.
“I’ve really focused my entire career on building, serving and making sure we fight for quality education, health care and affordable housing,” Macías said. “Under the Trump administration, we are seeing a big setback in this progress.”
García’s surprise retirement announcement in early November created a firestorm and drew criticism from his own party. His plans were known only to his chief of staff, Patty Garcia (no relation). Because the congressman announced her retirement after the nomination deadline, Patty Garcia was the only one to file the required signatures before the deadline to run as a Democrat in March.
But there is still time to run as an independent in the general election, with signatures not expected until May. Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, another potential candidate, confirmed to the Chicago Sun-Times that he has launched a committee to explore running as an independent.
Macías said she had supported Chuy García in the past and expressed disappointment in how he handled his retirement announcement, which she called undemocratic.
In an interview, Macías said she returned to the Chicago area from Washington, D.C., after the election of President Donald Trump in 2024, and now lives in the Scottsdale neighborhood at the southern tip of the 4th District. Macías said she travels back and forth to Chicago regularly because her family still lives in the area.
Macías said his father was a garbage collector for the city of Chicago and his mother was a home health aide.
“I internalized this value of hard work early on,” Macías said. “Nothing was ever handed to me early on. I learned the value of hard work from watching my parents try to make ends meet for our family.”
She’s from the Back of the Yards neighborhood, where, she says, her family faced violence around them growing up, even once finding a bullet hole in their kitchen window. Today, this neighborhood still faces challenges, most recently with immigration agents targeting residents.
Macías had served as executive director of Building Back Together, an outside group tasked with implementing Biden’s agenda. She also served as executive director of the Latino Victory Project, an advocacy group.
She said affordability is the No. 1 concern she hears about among district residents.
“People work hard and things are getting more and more expensive, especially under the Trump administration, with Trump’s tariffs. I hear a lot of people feeling frustrated that their hard work isn’t enough to put food on the table and still have a little extra money for their kids,” she said. “I hear especially now, since this happened so recently here, the frustration with using federal resources as a weapon to attack community members.”
