Chuy García’s Defeat

The defeat of the Latino candidate, Jesús “Chuy” García, in the Chicago mayoral race highlights the difficulties to obtain a significant sector of the African-American vote necessary to win.

Since the beginning, Rahm Emanuel’s position was unusually vulnerable. He was expected to win reelection during the first round of votes. However, for the first time in Chicago, a sitting mayor was forced to go to a runoff after failing to get 50% of the vote. Emanuel’s confrontational style that led to the closing of 50 schools, the city’s big financial troubles and a spike in violence gave his rival an opportunity to exploit those weaknesses.

García, the Cook County Commissioner, took the occasion to present himself as a progressive candidate, and got endorsements from progressive organizations all over the country, as well as unions. García’s campaign was focused on showing Emanuel as the candidate of the 1%, while he represented the people. The big difference in campaign funds and the establishment support for the mayor reinforced the narrative.

However, the economic disparity argument was not enough to capture the bulk of the African-American vote, which is predominant in Chicago’s West and South side. Emanuel got the white vote and, apparently, also the majority of the vote in those neighborhoods. Latinos in the area are still not decisive on their own.

The African-American vote was the decisive one. But the leaders of this community, far from showing unity, were divided. Emanuel got the endorsement of the elected politicians, as progressive figures like Jesse Jackson sided with García.

This division ruined Chuy’s prospects.

García faced a challenge familiar to many Latino candidates in urban settings. On paper, a coalition between Latinos and African Americans based on similar socioeconomic conditions seems only natural. But that’s not the case.

Be it because of distrust, incompatible personalities, or whatever reason, in Chicago the opportunity of a progressive front was squandered. Both Latinos and African Americans should see that there is more that unites than separates them, and that if they do not form the necessary coalitions, others will benefit from those divisions.