The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

When he ran for a third term in the state legislature in 1998, Jesus Garcia found himself up against a legion of Chicago-election “door knockers” from far outside his district on the Southwest Side. Hundreds of patronage workers loyal to Mayor Richard M. Daley’s political organization came from across the city to Hispanic neighborhoods like Little Village, or La Villita, to campaign for Mr. Garcia’s challenger, Antonio Muñoz, a political neophyte. Mr. Garcia’s defeat was the first big victory for the Hispanic Democratic Organization. The group took election-season orders from top aides to Mayor Daley and rewarded effective campaign workers with city jobs. For a decade, the practice helped the mayor dominate the politics of the city’s fast-growing Hispanic community.

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