Chicago politics long has had a deserved national reputation for sleaziness. In announcing his retirement plans too late for other Democrats to vie for the open seat while secretly dispatching his organization to collect signatures for his chief of staff to succeed him, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García wrote his own inauspicious chapter in that not-so-grand tradition.

This page condemned his ignoble action, but, in the days since, we’ve still been surprised to see this addition to the Chicago wall of shame gain so much national attention.

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate Democrat representing a swing district in Washington state, courageously introduced a measure to reprimand García for his stunt. Heckled by fellow Democrats as she spoke Monday on the House floor, a clearly nervous Perez said, “No one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives.”

She was absolutely right, and García’s House Democratic defenders, beginning with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, played this issue exactly wrong. Here in the zero-sum Trump era, Democrats had a chance to stand up for democracy even when it meant taking one of their own to task, and their myopic leaders blew the opportunity.

The House on Tuesday voted 236-183-4 to reprimand García. After staunchly defending García on Monday in an unsuccessful bid to keep the measure from getting a floor vote, 23 Democrats joined with the majority the following day, including Illinois congressmen Bill Foster and Eric Sorensen. Perez no doubt will get her share of side-eye from fellow Democrats over the coming days and weeks, but she performed a valuable service, both for the nation and for Illinois.

For the country, she demonstrated that politics doesn’t have to be strictly an us-versus-them exercise and that calling out wrongdoing by one of your own can be noble — especially if, as in this case, you’re serving the cause of upholding democracy.

For Illinois and Chicago, this sudden and unexpected national spotlight on the details of our sordid politics is actually welcome — that is, if you’re interested in good government and fair elections.

García, long celebrated on the left as a consistent progressive voice and the candidate who gave Rahm Emanuel a run for his money for Chicago mayor, unintentionally has done Chicago a service. His manipulation of the electoral process in Illinois to cheat Democratic voters out of a choice of candidates for an open seat has given Americans an education on how machine politics actually works here.

And the humiliation and criticism he is getting from around the country hopefully will make the next veteran pol looking to bequeath his or her office to a chosen successor think twice. García has demonstrated there’s a serious price to pay for such shenanigans, not just in the moment as your colleagues rebuke you on the House floor but as an important part of your legacy following decades of public service.

Yes, politicians in other states have used the same tawdry maneuver. But it’s been a regular practice in Illinois, and it shouldn’t happen again.

We could even give this suddenly verboten maneuver a name: the García gambit.

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