Jesus Garza did not speak any English when he moved to the United States from Mexico at age 23. He started earning $4.25 an hour packing brooms in boxes in Arcola, an Illinois city known as the “Broomcorn Capital of the World.” (According to Merriam-Webster, broomcorn is “any of several tall cultivated sorghums having stiff-branched panicles used in brooms and brushes.”)
Garza eventually left that job and started working as a mechanic. He then started his own business, growing it into one of central Illinois’s biggest repair shops. But his success did not end there. Last year, Garza became the first Latino mayor of Arcola, a city of about 3,000 that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. As he headed up the 50th annual Broomcorn Festival parade on September 11, 2021, Garza recalled how he got his start.
“From the day I got here, my dad’s friends, on the American side, they wanted to talk to me every day even though I didn’t speak any English,” he said. “They invited me to be part of the community, to work on their cars. To go from that to everyone cheering me today is just very special. I love this town.”
The town loves him back. The citizens of “Amazing Arcola” (as the town has been dubbed) praise Garza’s warm personality, strong work ethic, and commitment to making the city work for everyone.
