{"id":977,"date":"2026-07-09T09:09:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=977"},"modified":"2026-07-09T09:09:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:09:54","slug":"rep-garcia-faces-new-meddling-accusations-ahead-of-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=977","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Garc\u00eda Faces New Meddling Accusations Ahead of Midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Ethics officials are being asked to weigh in on a bitter, Democratic battle to succeed Rep. Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda of Illinois that is testing rules limiting Capitol Hill staff from campaign work.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate Republicans Are Dug In Against Nuking Filibuster Despite Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda came under fire for seemingly handpicking his former chief of staff to be his successor<\/u><\/span>, including being rebuked by the House earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Now, an independent candidate running to succeed him is urging both the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate Garc\u00eda and his staff for allegedly trying to prevent others from challenging his pick in Illinois\u2019 4th Congressional District, NOTUS has learned.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers have previously been investigated for allegedly using congressional resources for campaign work: The House censured<\/u><\/span> former Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York) in 2010 after the House Ethics Committee found he violated ethics rules by using congressional resources for political purposes. Also, the committee former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) in 2019 for using congressional resources, including staff time and Hill office space, for political activities. She was forced to reimburse $7,576 to the government for the misused funds.<\/p>\n

The House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n

After Garc\u00eda announced his retirement plans the same day as the candidate filing deadline, effectively clearing out the primary field for his chief of staff, Patty Garcia (no relation), several Democrats gathered signatures to appear on the ballot as independent candidates.<\/p>\n

But now, people who circulated signatures for Patty Garcia are challenging the signatures gathered by two independent candidates \u2014 Mayra Mac\u00edas<\/u><\/span> and Byron Sigcho-Lopez \u2014 to remove them from the ballot in November. Manuel D\u00edaz, a senior adviser for the Illinois congressman, is also helping in the effort to invalidate the signatures.<\/p>\n

Mac\u00edas, a former Democratic political operative, is urging the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate Garc\u00eda and his staff for using official House time for political activity. Specifically, she alleges his staff used congressional resources, including staff time, to coordinate Patty Garcia\u2019s candidacy and to challenge the independents running in the race, according to letters sent to each entity first shared with NOTUS.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only is it unethical, but it is a disservice to the constituents of the 4th Congressional District, because there is a lot of need here that is not being met, and if a staffer is being used for political purposes instead of actually doing that casework that is so necessary in our community, voters need to know that,\u201d Mac\u00edas told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

The prohibits the use of official House resources, including official congressional staff time, for campaign or political purposes. The manual allows House employees to engage in campaign activity on their own time when they \u201chave completed their official duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her letters, Mac\u00edas accuses D\u00edaz, Patty Garcia and Chuy Garc\u00eda\u2019s district director, Adrian Calderon, of using official time to coordinate Patty Garcia\u2019s candidacy before she resigned as Garc\u00eda\u2019s chief of staff on Oct. 31, just three days before she filed to run. Mac\u00edas also alleges that D\u00edaz used official time to challenge the independent candidates. Sigcho-Lopez, the other independent candidate, told NOTUS he supports Mac\u00edas\u2019 ethics investigation efforts.<\/p>\n

In a statement to NOTUS, Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, a spokesperson for Patty Garc\u00eda, said that D\u00edaz \u201cis a part-time employee for Congressman Garc\u00eda. Any unofficial activity was conducted on his personal time. No ethics rules were violated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Illinois state law, independent candidates are required to submit signatures from at least 5% of the total number of people who voted in the last general election in their congressional district to get on the ballot. That\u2019s 10,816 signatures in Illinois\u2019 4th Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Mac\u00edas and Sigcho-Lopez each turned in over 17,000 signatures, but 10,000 for each candidate were challenged by three individuals: Sandra Mendez, Jeremy Rivera and Rene Munoz. Mendez and Rivera both gathered signatures for Patty Garcia, according to her candidacy paperwork, which was reviewed by NOTUS.<\/p>\n

Read more Graham Platner Drops Out of Maine Senate Race<\/a><\/p>\n

Patty Garcia\u2019s campaign did not respond to NOTUS\u2019 requests for comment, including questions about whether it had coordinated with the three objectors to challenge Mac\u00edas and Sigcho-Lopez, or whether the candidate did political work during congressional work hours. D\u00edaz, who is listed as a contact for Patty Garcia\u2019s campaign, did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like an attack on democracy. It feels like an attack not only on my candidacy, it feels like an attack on our community right to decide who should represent them,\u201d Sigcho-Lopez told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

There are currently three independent candidates running in the district: Mac\u00edas, Sigcho-Lopez and Lyons Mayor Chris Getty, whose signatures are not being challenged. Sigcho-Lopez said that challenging just him and Mac\u00edas was intentional, arguing that they see the two Latino candidates \u201cas a threat\u201d to Patty Garcia\u2019s \u201canointment\u201d in a majority-Latino district.<\/p>\n

Already, the House passed a symbolic resolution, led by Washington Democratic state Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, to disapprove of Garc\u00eda\u2019s stunt to favor Patty Garcia<\/u><\/span> in a 236-183 vote<\/u><\/span>. 23 Democrats voted for the measure.<\/p>\n

Some of these Democrats said that the efforts to remove the independent candidates did not reflect well on Garc\u00eda.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis office should not be involved at all. I think it should be leave it for the voters,\u201d Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

At an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing last month, D\u00edaz, the congressman\u2019s senior adviser, testified that he was involved in reviewing Mac\u00edas\u2019 signatures and gathered evidence to invalidate one of the signatures. However, D\u00edaz declined to say whether he had taken time off from his official congressional work in order to conduct political work, according to a transcript of the hearing reviewed by NOTUS.<\/p>\n

When asked if he was affiliated with the objectors challenging Mac\u00edas\u2019 signatures, D\u00edaz said, \u201cI am not. I am an employee of the U.S. House of Representatives.\u201d D\u00edaz worked as a notary for Patty Garcia, having certified her candidacy paperwork and signature petitions, which were reviewed by NOTUS.<\/p>\n

Recalling the hearing, Mac\u00edas told NOTUS that D\u00edaz was being evasive and refused to clearly answer that he worked for Garc\u00eda, simply stating that he worked at the House of Representatives. She said that her lawyers asked D\u00edaz if he had taken time off from his congressional work, but D\u00edaz \u201cdid not answer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mac\u00edas said D\u00edaz\u2019s attendance at the hearing, which is not considered official congressional work, should be investigated since it took place during regular work hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should not be doing political work on government time. That\u2019s a Hatch Act violation,\u201d Mac\u00edas said, referring to the federal law<\/u><\/span> that limits political activities of federal employees.<\/p>\n

The Illinois State Board of Elections is expected to decide on July 14 whether Mac\u00edas and Sigcho-Lopez stay on the ballot. Both Mac\u00edas and Sigcho-Lopez said they\u2019d consider legal challenges if they\u2019re removed.<\/p>\n

Read more Maine Candidates Are Already Eyeing a Senate Bid if Platner Drops Out<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An independent candidate running to succeed Garc\u00eda is urging House Ethics officials to conduct an investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-election"],"yoast_head":"\nRep. Garc\u00eda Faces New Meddling Accusations Ahead of Midterms - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=977\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rep. 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