Rep. Luis Gutierrez is expected to announce he's withdrawing his nominating petitions on Tuesday.

| Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Gutiérrez won't seek reelection

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), a leading national voice on immigration reform, will not seek reelection, three Democratic sources with knowledge of the decision told POLITICO.

Gutiérrez, who has held his seat since 1993, is expected to announce Tuesday afternoon he's withdrawing the nominating petitions he filed just Monday and will formally endorse Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.


Garcia, a Cook County commissioner, had forced Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff election in 2015. His bid for Gutiérrez's seat means Garcia will not challenge Emanuel again in 2019, as he had previously planned, sources tell POLITICO. With petition filing open on Monday, candidates for Gutiérrez's open seat will have to turn in nearly 7,000 signatures in less than a week.

Sources say discussions between Garcia and Gutiérrez began Friday. Two Democratic sources said that polling already done in the district showed Garcia with a strong lead among possible opponents. In his 24 years in Congress, Gutiérrez, 63, was an immigration reform activist who easily won reelection by some of the largest margins of the Illinois congressional delegation. Of late, he's risen as a vocal critic of the Trump administration's response in the wake of a devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico.

Gutiérrez's spokesman, Douglas Rivlin, said he couldn't comment.

"I don't know anything. I don't know anything," he said late Monday.

Garcia will begin circulating petitions for Gutiérrez's post on Tuesday.

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News of Gutiérrez's departure is already creating a frenzy for the solidly blue seat. Aside from Garcia, Chicago Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is among those who may circulate petitions for the seat, sources told POLITICO.

