He S A Real One

This article was reported in collaboration with In These Times magazine.

  But back in October, Ocasio-Cortez had a few others in mind. Tallying potential allies to Vanity Fair, Ocasio-Cortez listed prospective Congress member Kara Eastman of Nebraska (who lost a second close attempt to unseat a Republican) and one seated Democrat: Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois’s Fourth Congressional District.



  When Tlaib and Omar vocally fought a House resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, García was one of only 16 Democrats to vote against it. (He stopped short of endorsing the movement, citing as the reason for his vote “the resolution does not advance the goal of a negotiated peace process.”)



  But where García does align with Squad members and the Democratic Party’s larger crop of left challengers is in the conviction that politicians must be accountable, specifically, to working-class communities and grassroots movements.



  When he was elected to the U.S. House in 2018, García was stepping into a seat held for 26 years by another member of Mayor Harold Washington’s coalition: Luis Gutiérrez.



  “At that moment, he was kind of wishy-washy,” recalls Pilsen Alliance director Moises Moreno. “We were just there to make sure.” (García did become a cosponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2019.)