Chicago Ald. Sigcho-Lopez running as independent for Rep. Garcia's seat in Congress

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez announced his run for Congress on Wednesday.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Chicago's 25th Ward alderman said he is running as an independent candidate for Illinois' 4th Congressional District.

It is currently Congressman Jesus "Chuy" Garcia's seat.

Garcia announced he was retiring last year.

READ MORE | Rep. Jesús 'Chuy' García's decision to exit 2026 race, anoint his chief of staff draws criticism

Sigcho-Lopez is now the second person running as an independent for the seat.

Sigcho-Lopez is hoping to capitalize on his firebrand reputation to catapult himself from the City Council to Congress.

He also hopes to tap voter frustration with what many see as machine politics that enabled Garcia's handpicked successor to be the only Democrat on the primary ballot.

"I'm launching my campaign as a candidate for Congress, as an independent democratic socialist," Sigcho-Lopez said.

Sigcho-Lopez launched his congressional campaign at the restaurant where he taught English as a second language and other classes 17 years ago.

"I will bring our fight to Congress, working for housing for all, Medicare for all and mental health services for everyone," he said.

Sigcho-Lopez, who was elected to the city council in 2019, railed against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and agents' aggressive tactics, corporate billionaires and Patty Garcia, the chief of staff to Congressman Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

Patty Garcia and Congressman Garcia are not related.

But Garcia anointed Patty Garcia as his successor in a last-minute secret, but legal maneuver that prevented any other candidates from running in the Democratic primary.

"Patty, our mentor mapped out an old-school establishment anti-democratic backroom deals and decided to hide the fact that this was planned all along for a retirement," Sigcho-Lopez said.

Also running as an independent in the same race is Mayra Macias, an advisor to nonprofit groups, who quietly launched her campaign in December. She says she was motivated by concerns about the ethics of Garcia's retirement handoff.

"So we're seeing people already robbed of a sense of normalcy, safety, dignity, and now they're being robbed of the right to choose who's going to represent them in Congress. So, I jumped in as an independent to make sure that voters had a choice," Macias said.

Independent candidates face uphill battles, starting with the requirement to gather more than 10,000 signatures to get on the November ballot, compared to less than 700 for Democratic candidates running in the primary.

"So, there are a lot of challenges, but I see those as opportunities to begin engaging folks even before you know, the general process of getting out the vote closer to November," Macias said.

"I think that we're here with this energy in the room ready to make history and run as an independent and get on the ballot," Sigcho-Lopez said.