Incumbent Jesus Garcia (D) and Raymond Lopez (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 4th Congressional District on March 19, 2024.
Local media outlets say Garcia and Lopez represent different wings of the Democratic Party. According to Politico’s Illinois Playbook, “Lopez is a conservative Democrat who aligns with the equally conservative Chicago Police union, and Garcia is a venerable progressive.” According to the Chicago Sun-Times, “Both Garcia and Lopez have long roots in opposing factions of Southwest Side politics. Lopez is a product of the old Chicago machine while Garcia comes out of Chicago’s anti-machine independent politics movement.”
Garcia and Lopez have differed on immigration and the war in Gaza. Both say they support offering citizenship to immigrants brought into the country without legal permission as children. Garcia and Lopez differ on a bill the U.S. Senate passed in February 2024 that included restrictions on immigration without legal permission as well as aid to Ukraine and Israel. Garcia says he will not vote for the bill in the House and Lopez says he would. Garcia co-sponsored a U.S. House resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in October 2023. Lopez voted against a city council resolution calling for a ceasefire in January 2024.
Garcia was first elected in 2018 and earlier served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, in the Illinois Senate, and on the Chicago City Council. Garcia is running on his record, saying he secured billions of dollars in infrastructure funding for Illinois in Congress and passed the nation’s first resolution limiting cooperation with federal authorities on immigration enforcement while he was a city council member.
Lopez is a member of the Chicago City Council. Lopez says he is running because Garcia is out of touch with the district’s voters. Lopez describes himself as “a man whose faith and conviction always lead him to do what’s right over what’s popular.”
As of March 5, 2024, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball each rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic. Garcia won re-election 68%–28% in 2022.
