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Aguilar accuses opponent of faking endorsements

Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar Responds to Lie from Opponent on Her Union Endorsements. Commissioner Aguilar’s opponent, Leticia Garcia, publicly promoted she had the endorsement of the Chicago Laborers’ District Council – LiUNA Local 1, which has endorsed Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar

On Tuesday, June 21st, Cook County Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar’s campaign team confirmed that his opponent, Leticia “Letty” Garcia, lied about being endorsed by The Chicago Laborers District Council – LiUNA Local 1. Mrs. Garcia promoted her candidacy using LiUNA Local 1’s logo on social media, including Facebook, and on her campaign literature.

In reality, The Chicago Laborers’ District Council – LiUNA Local 1, endorsed Commissioner Aguilar in his election race for 16th District County Commissioner: https://www.liunachicago.org/elections

Public servants must always strive to be as transparent as possible – the truth matters. Mrs. Garcia, who has gone to drastic lengths to mischaracterize Commissioner Aguilar’s background and political affiliation, cannot be truthful when it comes to her own endorsements.

“We are honored to have the endorsement of LiUNA Local 1, and we are relieved to be able to set the record straight,” said Aguilar Campaign Manager Michilla Blaise. “Mrs. Garcia is behind in the polls and is unfortunately resorting to desperate attempts to try to boost her candidacy.”

Commissioner Aguilar said he, “will continue listening to voters and community stakeholders to bring in more resources and investment into the 16th District.” As a former union organizer himself, Commissioner Aguilar understands, and is humbled by, the significance of each union who has supported our campaign.

A spokesperson for Aguilar also said, “It has come to the attention of our campaign staff that Commissioner Aguilar’s opponent in the 16^th District Cook County Democratic Primary Election, Leticia Garcia, has lied about being endorsed by LiUNA Local 1. We feel that voters deserve to see the truth behind who has endorsed each candidate. Please reach out if you need any more confirmation or if you have any questions.

Aguilar’s team distributed the following information about the priorities of his campaign:

Invest in Cook:

We had the most money distributed to our district than any other ($1.6 mil out of a total of $8.5 mil). We are also very proud of the fact that all 9 of the applications for Invest in Cook were approved. Commissioner Aguilar represents this entire district, and does not play favorites. If you come to him with a plan he will do everything he can to help your community see that plan through.

Covid-19:

We had the most one-off testing, PPE distribution, and vaccination events in the county. During his term, Cicero and Berwyn reached Cook County’s 70% vaccination rate milestone of December of last year.

Endorsements and Support:

We are supported by every single mayor in our district. As soon as he took office, Frank gathered the mayors together and continued to build strong working relationships – building a bigger sense of community as a whole for the 16^th district and more easily able to have the conversations needed to deliver real support and investment into their communities.

We have strong labor support, with the CFL, Illinois Nurses Association, SEIU Local 73, IUOE Local 150, Teamsters 777. Our opponent is a nurse so Frank getting the nurses’ union endorsement was a huge moment for our campaign and shows that unions understand he is a fighter for the working class.

Miscellaneous:

Broad strokes we like to show that Frank is a man of the people. That he is the most active commissioner in all of cook county, that he is constantly in the district, listening, then going to the county to deliver results to our communities. He has such a long history in the district and specifically Cicero, and I think it is important for people to know that he understands their issues and always puts helping others before himself.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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