In a Twitter post Nov. 10, Illinois State Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García announced he will run for mayor of Chicago.

“In Chicago, you know you’re part of something big," Garcia tweeted. "We live in the city of broad shoulders. But today, from crime to unemployment to affordable housing, there's uncertainty ahead. I’m running for mayor of Chicago because it’s time to build a brighter future – together.”

The election takes place on Feb. 28. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote, then another election will take place on April 4. This is García’s second bid for mayor.

According to Politico, García held a campaign event on Navy Pier on Nov. 10 where he said, “Chicago needs a leader with the vision of our future and the know-how and the empathy to get us there together. From crime to unemployment, to affordable housing, there is so much we need to build,” officially declaring his bid to defeat Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2023. 

He previously ran for mayor against Rahm Emmanuel in 2015, which went to a run-off but eventually he lost.

García criticized his opponent, Lightfoot, when he said the city needs someone who “will bring us together and unite us instead of driving us apart,” Politico reported.  

Lightfoot’s campaign responded to those comments with a statement calling García a “career politician.” The statement read: “Mr. Garcia spent months dithering on whether to get in this race, saying publicly he’d only run if Democrats lost the House.”

According to Politico, García announced his candidacy for mayor two days after winning reelection to the fourth district of Illinois’ House of Representatives. His district comprises a large section of the city of Chicago. García has called previous Mayor Harold Washington a “mentor” as he was an alderman when Washington served as mayor in the 1980s. García has previously served as a state senator in the Illinois General Assembly and as a Cook County commissioner as well as ran a nonprofit organization, Politico reported.