Radio host challenger to Luis Gutierrez says “time is right”
Jean Lotus — January 5, 2016
Javier Salas, of Chicago’s Northwest Side, is a former Spanish-language radio host and television presenter who served as a policy adviser for former Gov. Pat Quinn.
A Democratic primary challenger to 4th Congressional District veteran Congressman Luis Gutierrez believes the 22-year incumbent is vulnerable and the district is ready for change.
Javier Salas, of Chicago’s Northwest Side, is a former Spanish-language radio host and television presenter who served as a policy adviser for former Gov. Pat Quinn. Voters will go to the polls March 15, 2016.
Gutierrez, who has been a national voice in Congress for immigration issues, has easily won re-election for more than two decades. In the 2014 primary, he received 74 percent of the votes against two challengers.
But Salas said Gutierrez is “out of touch” with the district, and the congressman made a political misstep backing Rahm Emanuel in the March 2015 mayoral election over Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
“How can you turn your back and team up with Darth Vader?” Salas asked.
The Cook County Chronicle was unable to reach Gutierrez’s campaign staff by email for comment.
Salas believes this time Gutierrez has angered voters in the C-shaped 4th District which weaves through Latino communities in Chicago neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village and Humboldt Park, as well as suburban Cook County towns of Cicero, Berwyn, Riverside, some of Proviso Township and Melrose Park.
Salas is not hesitant to complain about Gutierrez’s 1980s-style activism. He said the district was ready for a “mainstream race.”
“In 22 years [Gutierrez] has not brought businesses and jobs to the district because he has been busy being himself,” Salas said.
“This district has the majority of young people under age 35, and they care about jobs and education and safety,” he said. “[Voters] don’t care about Luis getting arrested in front of the White House or some other clown-move.”
Salas and Gutierrez have a long history of sparring on the radio.
“I always had him on my show, along with other politicians,” Salas said.
Salas stepped down last spring from his morning show job at WLEY-FM to run for Congress.
Vicente Serrano, former Telemundo news anchor and radio host on AM-750 agreed that voters are “frustrated” with Gutierrez, who is of Puerto Rican descent. The district is 75 percent Latino, with a majority of residents of Mexican ancestry.
Serrano said Guitierrez made a mistake backing Rahm Emanuel.
Luis Gutierrez
“[Latino] voters are disenchanted with Luis Gutierrez,” Serrano said. “What a politician does is convince people about his initiatives. In this case [Gutierrez] hasn’t been effective on that. He hasn’t been able to translate the priorities of his [community] as the nations’ priorities,” he said. “There have been so many deportations, and so many families separated by immigration laws because of the inability of Luis Gutierrez to make his promises a reality.
“Javier and I were harsh critics of each other when we were on the radio,” added Serrano. “But that rivalry has turned to respect. I’m not sure Javier can win the battle, but for the first time in a long time there is a chance for the voters to speak out.”
Serrano said Gutierrez declined a chance to debate Salas on Serrano’s “Sin Censura” show.
Salas calls his story the “American Dream the Mexican Way.” He admires and was inspired by Garcia’s run for Chicago mayor, he said. He was also inspired by 31th Ward Alderman Milly Santiago, who left her job as a Univision reporter to oust longtime Alderman Ray Suarez.
Salas said Latino residents of the district have a special relationship with radio for community news. Over the years he started to use his radio shows to advocate for his listeners, he said.
He understands the challenges of being undocumented in Chicago, he said, because he came from Mexico City at age 26 to vacation with relatives and ended up staying. Salas said he worked in “typical immigrant jobs” at factories and restaurants, but wanted to be on the radio. After a class at Chicago Girls and Boys Club in Little Village, he managed to get early morning DJ shift-work and writing news at WRTO-AM/La Tremenda.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001 threw Salas into the spotlight, he said.
“I happened to be at the station, just to do some voiceover work, and we realized that someone needed to be talking about what was happening,” Salas said. “I asked the manager ‘would you let me on the air to talk about [the attacks].’ We made it a national show, and I spent hours and hours and hours talking and just taking calls.”
Salas said he helped organize the Chicago immigrant marches in 2006.
He often invited politicians onto his shows on the radio and television, and got to know former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn — then Illinois State Treasurer — who would always show up, even at 6 a.m. — Salas said.
After layoffs at WCGO-AM 1590 Quinn offered Salas a job as a liaison to the Latino communities across the state.
“I was very proud of our 2013 initiative to get driver’s licenses for undocumented people,” Salas said. He said he also helped the state develop materials to encourage immigrants in “blended families, some documented and some citizens” to feel safe enough to sign children up for the Illinois Health Insurance exchange.
Salas’s wife works at a law firm and they have two children.
“We have a Catholic and Jewish household. My children have the best of both worlds and my family is representative of the diversity of the district,” he said.
Gutierrez’s campaign committee reports $68,791 cash on hand, with most of that coming in the third quarter of 2015 from PACs, including $2,000 from Salas’s old employer, Univision Communications PAC in Los Angeles.
Salas has $36,000 cash on hand, including $12,000 he personally loaned the campaign.
Salas’s campaign has pointed to a November analysis by not-for-profit organization ProPublica.com showing Gutierrez had the second-highest percentage of missed votes on the House floor. No. 1 was Chicago congressman Bobby Rush. According to the website, Gutierrez missed 1,044 out of 6,902 votes over 22 years or 15 percent of the House votes.
Gutierrez’s campaign committee did not respond to an email asking for comment about the absenteeism survey.
Gutierrez has longtime connections with new House Speaker Paul Ryan. The two spoke together in Chicago in 2013 about immigration reform, according to published reports. A more cordial relationship with House Republicans may help Gutierrez advance his immigration reform agenda in 2016.
Salas said he knows he’s the underdog, but he feels “the time is right. There’s no shame in losing; I’m already on the ballot, and that’s a lot,” he said.
Two Illinois Congressmen top the list in absenteeism in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a November analysis by not-for-profit group Pro Publica. The organization listed the top 10 members of Congress who missed the highest percentage of votes over their career.
- Chicago 1st District Congressman Bobby Rush missed 1,549 out of 6,906 or 22.4 percent of votes over his career. The majority of votes were missed during a bout with salivary gland cancer in 2008. Rush also missed votes in 2014 to travel to Chicago take care of his wife’s health problems, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Illinois 4th District Congressman Luis Gutierrez missed 1,044 out of 6,902 votes, or about 15 percent of the votes over his 22-year term. Travel to visit family in Puerto Rico and for immigrant reform events in his district and around the country sometimes keeps him from voting, his publicist told USA Today.
Other members of Congress who made the list included:
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) — 12.7 %
- Don Young (R-Alaska) — 12 %
- Alma Adams (D-North Carolina) — 11.6%
- Charles B Rangel (D- New York) — 11.4 %
- Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Washington) — 10.9 %
- Jackie Speier (D-California) — 10.9 %
- Ken Buck (R-Colorado) — 10.2 %
- Trent Kelly (R-Mississippi) — 9.6 %
Source: ProPublica.com
— Radio host challenger to Luis Gutierrez says “time is right” —
