A Chicago public school teacher is mounting an independent challenge in the 1st Senate district challenging a candidate who is reportedly the son-in-law of incumbent Tony Munoz (D-Chicago). Munoz withdrew from the race after Javier Loera Cervantes filed nominating petitions on the last day that nominating petitions could be filed in what seems to be a time-tested technique to ensure that Cervantes would face no competition in the Democratic primary.
Froylan “Froy” Jimenez, 46, says he is running to give people a choice. Jimenez unsuccessfully challenged Munoz in the Democratic primary two years ago.
“As a teacher that advocates for increased civic participation and tells my kids to have faith in good government, I recognized the need to challenge the establishment and offer an alternative to politically connected candidates,” said Jimenez who teaches civics at Hancock High School on the southwest side of Chicago.
The redrawn 1st District ranges from the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago west to Brookfield and includes the portion of Riverside south of the BNSF railroad tracks.
Jimenez recently filed nominating petitions with 4,686 signatures to get on the ballot as an independent but his signatures have been challenged and the first hearing on the challenge is this week. Three thousand valid signatures are required. Jimenez said the petition challenge was expected.
“The machine doesn’t want people to have a choice,” Jimenez said.
No Republican candidate has filed in the race.
Jimenez beat off a petition challenge when he challenged Munoz two years ago.
“He did everything to get me off the ballot,” Jimenez said. “The political games incumbent politicians play to get their own chosen candidates to succeed them is a mockery of the political process and an ugly way to circumvent our democracy that ultimately limits the people’s choice.”
Jimenez serves on the Hancock High School Local School Council and was elected to the city wide Local School Council Advisory Board. He is a member of the Members First faction of the Chicago Teachers Union which unsuccessfully challenged the dominant faction of the CTU in union elections this year and lost. Jimenez ran for a union post but was defeated.
Jimenez said he offers new leadership that is not tied to the orthodoxies of the left and right.
“I want to empower the voters of the 1st District with a real choice and a candidate that is not connected with the insider political establishment and more connected with the pulse of frustration and the dire need for new leadership and changes in our state,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez was born in Mexico and moved to Bensenville as a little boy. He graduated from Fenton High School and earned a Chick Evans scholarship to Marquette University and now lives in Chicago.
Cervantes was born on the south side of Chicago. His mother had immigrated from Mexico. He graduated from UIC and worked for 12 years for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He also has served as aldermanic aide in the Chicago City Council.
