By Jean Lachowicz
Eight-term Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez will not seek re-election in 2008 for his seat representing Illinois’s 4th Congressional District. Gutierrez, named the most admired Latino leader in the country in a 1999 poll sponsored by Univision, a nationwide Spanish-language television network, gained acclaim for his work on immigration reform and other causes of the Latino and immigrant communities.
The c-shaped 4th Congressional District consists of Pilsen, West Town, and two strips running east-west across the city on the West Side and continuing into small portions of several Cook County suburbs. Mapped to contain Chicago’s two majority Hispanic sections, the district’s northern portion is populated mostly by Puerto Ricans while the southern portion is heavily Mexican.
Although the 4th District primary election will be held in February, a crowded and competitive field of Democratic candidates already has emerged.
Cook County Commissioner Robert Maldonado has represented the 8th District since 1994 and is Democratic Committeeman of the 26th Ward. He created a Congressional campaign committee April 30. When elected to the County Board, he was the first Puerto Rican in the nation to serve as a county commissioner.
The two top issues of his campaign are immigration reform and expanding access to healthcare. Maldonado said, “The more we can see the humanity of those who are different from us, the more we can see that they are people just like us.”
Maldonado began his career in public service when the late Mayor Harold Washington appointed him as a policy analyst to the newly formed Mayor’s Commission on Latino Affairs. He later worked as the City’s director of management services for the Office of Employment Training. Maldonado also served as campaign manager for then-Alderman Luis Gutierrez.
Ricardo Muñoz, fourth-term Alderman of the 22nd Ward and State Central Committeeman of the 4th District, announced his candidacy March 15. His top campaign issues for the 4th Congressional District are dependable and affordable public transportation, schools that are sufficiently funded by the federal government, and healthcare. His top national issues are immigration reform and Iraq.
“I’ve been an activist Alderman, and I will be an activist in Congress,” Munoz said. “For example, in 1995 when there was a plan to eliminate the CTA Douglas Blue Line, the lifeblood of our area, we went directly to Washington to make sure we didn’t lose reliable, accessible, affordable, safe public transportation.”
Known as a reformer within the City Council, Muñoz has challenged the City leadership to provide more educational opportunities for Chicago school children, increase funding for the Chicago Transit Authority, improve response times at the 911 call center, and end ethical abuses by city officials. During the last term of the City Council, the only major revision to the City's ethical code was an ordinance sponsored by Muñoz. The City Council passed the measure, which makes it illegal for high-ranking administration officials to receive favorable City contracts while on the City payroll.
Manuel “Manny” Flores, second-term Alderman of the 1st Ward, announced his candidacy May 10. Flores is a former Gutierrez aide and previously worked as a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
Flores’s top issues are quality and accessible healthcare, fixing the broken immigration laws to prevent tearing apart families, environmental sustainability, and the war in Iraq. Locally, he wants to work on mass transit, O’Hare expansion, and making sure the 2016 Olympics, if held in Chicago, bring the community together.
“Each of us is confronted with very real challenges today,” Flores said. “The solutions to these issues require forward thinking and progressive leadership. I am running for Congress because I have a vision and a desire for a new brand of leadership and aspire toward the better America that I know we can be.”
Flores’s campaign website is www.floresforus.com.
As Alderman, Flores introduced legislation—which the City Council passed—in the areas of consumer protection, healthcare, and government operations and management. He has worked to protect workers’ rights by assisting displaced workers in the candy-making, lamp manufacturing, and hospitality industries.
Said to be considering a run but not yet in the race is State Representative Susana Mendoza, who has represented the Illinois First District since 2001. She serves on the following committees in the Illinois House: International Trade & Commerce (Chairperson), Registration & Regulation, Renewable Energy, Bio-Technology, Drivers Education & Safety, and Health & Healthcare Disparities. Mendoza was unavailable for comment.
Frequently included on lists of potential candidates for this race, 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis said, “My first choice would be for us to ask Congressman Gutierrez to reconsider running again and continue to serve as representative. For me, I want to continue to concentrate my efforts on serving as 25th Ward alderman.”
