On Nov. 6, Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia rode the blue wave to a 4th District U.S. House seat, replacing longtime congressman Luis Gutiérrez.
The 4th District includes Oak Park’s 33rd precinct, which sits at the village’s southeastern-most edge and is bordered by Roosevelt Road and Austin Boulevard. There are 1,009 registered voters in that precinct, according to the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Turnout in the precinct, which is resoundingly Democratic (86 percent voted for Pritzker) was around 60 percent.
But exactly three people in the 33rd precinct cast votes in the 4th District race and all three voted for Chuy. I think it was Mario Cuomo, the late Democratic governor of New York and presidential candidate, who said: “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.” Three in 33 and all for Chuy. Now how poetic is that?
Michael Romain
