When the candidates vying to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García gathered around a table Tuesday night in a Fox 32 Chicago studio with no audience, Democratic nominee Patty García’s rivals quickly took their clearest shot yet at the unusual maneuvering that has shaped the race.

At the first opportunity, the three challengers went after Patty García for what they argued was an effort by her and her closest political allies, including the outgoing congressman, to clear the field and hand her Illinois’ 4th Congressional District seat.

“I spoke out against it, and I am giving the people a choice by running as an independent candidate,” Chris Getty, the mayor of suburban Lyons, said of the political maneuvering.

Though Getty is a Democrat, he’s running as an independent and sometimes sounds like a Republican. During the debate, Getty vowed that, if elected, he would not caucus with either Democrats or the GOP, a move that would make him even more impotent than most rookie members of Congress.

He was joined at the desk by the actual Republican nominee, Lupe Castillo, whose bona fides include being a “dedicated community member,” and Working Class Party candidate Ed Hershey, a teacher at Lindblom High School on Chicago’s South Side. Hershey, too, said he wouldn’t caucus with either party.

But Patty García’s path there drew much of the attention Tuesday night. Though she’s no relation to him, the former chief of staff to Chuy García faced no real challenges in March in securing the Democratic nomination in the heavily Latino and Democratic district. That came after the congressman announced, just before last year’s filing deadline, that he would not seek reelection to the seat representing Pilsen and Little Village, as well as suburbs such as Cicero, Berwyn, Riverside and Brookfield.

With advance notice from her boss, Patty García was the only candidate with time to gather enough signatures to make the Democratic primary ballot, and on Tuesday she offered an unapologetic defense of how she became the race’s clear favorite before ever facing voters.

“People will have a choice. There’s four of us here that will be on the ballot in November,” she told Fox 32 anchor Anita Blanton, who moderated the debate. García said her ability to secure the signatures she needed to get on the ballot, a fraction of what the independent candidates needed, “speaks to the power of our organization and our movement to be able to motivate people to come out and give people a choice.”

After facing the barbs, García quickly turned her attention to Getty, her most well-funded opponent and biggest competition.

“Chris, you want to talk about transparency and honesty? Let’s not go there because you’ve got plenty on your rap sheet,” she said, citing a 2019 raid by the FBI of Lyons Village Hall and alleging that he has misused campaign funds. “So if you want to go there, we’ll go there.”

The raid was part of a sweeping corruption probe that brought down mayors and other officials in several nearby suburbs, but Getty was never charged with any wrongdoing. His father, Kenneth Getty, who died last year, was convicted and sentenced to federal prison for bid-rigging stemming from his time as mayor in the 1990s.

“I know Patty wants to attack me on other things, and she wants to move past this issue, but the issue at hand is that she started her election with a lie, and she’s perpetuating this lie to this day,” Getty fired back.

After the early fireworks, the four candidates attempted to separate themselves on policy.

Getty cast himself as a moderate willing to work with anyone on Capitol Hill to drive affordability, but largely avoided offering specifics. He called for clarity on the future of the Iran war, additional low-income housing tax credits and more housing construction. Cost of living is the most important issue, and whoever wins should ask themselves one question on every policy, he said: “Does it make it easier or does it make it harder for working families in the 4th Congressional District and Chicagoland?”

On immigration, Getty — who has been the mayor of the heavily Latino suburb since 2009 — called for “secure borders” and said the nation must streamline its immigration system and clear a path for immigrants who have long lived in the country to gain legal status.

For her part, García cast herself as a progressive eager to take on Trump and Republicans.

She said she supports a $25 federal minimum wage, backs the Medicare for All single-payer national health insurance plan and would push to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

“That means ensuring not one more penny goes to this rogue agency that has had a blank check and gone unchecked, killing our neighbors, killing innocent people,” she said. “It also means ensuring that we hold ICE accountable.”

Castillo, who in an aside accused Getty of stealing her campaign signs, took a far sharper stance on immigration, calling it the district’s biggest issue and referring to undocumented immigrants as “illegals.”

The Republican nominee, whose campaign fundraising has been flaccid, repeatedly claimed without evidence that immigrants lacking permanent legal status are given major perks by the government. Chicagoans deserve the money more, she said.

“We have to figure out a way to control the number of people coming into this country,” she said. “We have laws in this country that need to be followed. If you want to come into this country, go the right way, follow the procedure.”

Castillo also said gas prices must go down, but then immediately praised President Donald Trump as “the only one right now that has actually had the gumption” to attack Iran, arguing the same war efforts that contributed to the increase in gas prices were long needed.

Hershey repeatedly railed against the Iran war, casting it as a fight pursued by Trump and Democrats alike that is driving inflation.

“Both parties really set themselves against the working class, and I won’t align with either of them,” Hershey said.

García grimaced as Castillo railed against undocumented immigrants, keeping her hands tightly clasped together and fidgeting with her fingers. The two butted heads when Castillo criticized García’s calls for a higher minimum wage.

“The companies can afford it,” García said.

“No, they can’t,” Castillo retorted.

“They’re making billions,” García fired back.

“Why do you think they’re leaving? Because they’re being taxed to death,” Castillo added.

García argued that her experience working in the congressional office sets her apart from the other candidates. She claimed credit for bringing in millions of dollars in federal support and said she is ready to push for money for hospitals and violence prevention workers while fighting Trump.

“It’s my plan to make sure we’re doing everything at once. We have to run multiple trains to ensure that we’re doing the work that people need day to day,” she said.