The Democratic establishment successfully thwarted Maureen Galindo and her increasingly unhinged and conspiratorial tirades against American Zionists—which were roundly denounced as antisemitic—in the runoff for the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District in South Texas. Johnny Garcia, an official with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, easily beat Galindo by around 20 points Tuesday night.
Galindo, a sex therapist, tenant organizer, and first-time candidate, had come in first in the March primary.
Garcia’s decisive win comes after the Texas Democratic Party and national Democratic leaders roundly denounced Galindo for her antisemitism. On social media, Galindo said that she would “turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers.” She added that it would become a “castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.”
Last week, Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder and the 35th District’s four county party chairs issued a joint statement that said: “Antisemitism and hateful rhetoric have no place in the Democratic Party or in our communities. Maureen Galindo’s comments do not reflect our values as Democrats or as Texans.”
Prior to the increased attention and controversy over Galindo’s comments, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—the national party’s congressional campaign arm, known as the DCCC—was already taking a safe bet on Garcia’s “old-school” Democrat values. On May 4, the DCCC added Garcia to their “Red to Blue” program, opening him up to a network of funding and party resources.
The district—which is under its current boundaries represented by progressive Austin Congressman Greg Casar—is one of five Texas Republicans recently gerrymandered into likely Republican seats. Under its new boundaries—which now include part of San Antonio and Bexar County, extending into a handful of deep-red rural counties in South Texas—Trump would’ve taken the district by 10 points in 2024.
Galindo’s campaign, in which she branded herself as an unabashed progressive, also raised suspicion as a Republican-connected PAC poured over $900,000 into promoting her. GOP operatives said they believed her untamed radicalism and antisemitic comments would ensure them victory in the general election.
Instead, the battle will come down to a standoff between Garcia and Carlos De La Cruz in November. De La Cruz beat state Representative John Lujan handily in the Republican runoff for the seat. He’s the brother of Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, who has represented some of the counties that now reside within the 35th. He is an Air Force veteran and founder of a kickboxing gym in San Antonio who notably won the endorsement of President Donald Trump, vowing to be his “wingman” in Congress.
Garcia’s platform focuses on lowering costs by ending Trump’s tariffs, renewing Affordable Care Act subsidies, and expanding Medicaid. He says he believes in creating orderly pathways to citizenship while protecting communities from gun violence and crime. As a young man, he worked in construction and plumbing before joining the Bexar County Sheriff’s office “to keep the lights on.”
Throughout the race, Galindo frequently targeted Garcia’s law enforcement background. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office oversees one of the deadliest jails in the state and entered into a limited 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January. Garcia has asserted that he brought more transparency to the department as its public information officer, but investigations by the San Antonio Express-News accuse the jail of being a “black box” with “public information scattered across multiple agencies.”
Still, Garcia believes his nearly two decades in law enforcement taught him to put people over politics.
“When I was responding to a call for service in my community, I never asked dispatch once whether that home I was headed to was Democrat or Republican,” Garcia said in an interview with KSAT 12. “I responded like lives were on the line—and we know in this midterm election cycle, lives are on the line.”
Garcia was also backed by the Blue Dog Democrats, which spent over $1 million boosting his campaign. In nearby Congressional Districts 28 and 34—which are also in South Texas—Blue Dog incumbent Congressmen Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez are also hoping to hold onto their seats in the face of Republican gerrymandering. They are considered among the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. House, and they managed to defeat Republican challengers in recent years. Just two weeks after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, they both voted with Republicans to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
In debates, Garcia sounded ideologically somewhat distant from typically conservative Blue Dog policy stances on matters like abortion and immigration enforcement. He said he was adamantly pro-choice, and he wouldn’t accept ICE attacking and dividing his community. Still, he proudly accepted the Blue Dog PAC’s endorsement.
“I’m a proud Blue Dog Democrat because I’m ready to get to work and deliver common-sense solutions for hard-working Texan families,” Garcia said.
Like District 35, the new boundaries for 28 and 34 would have handed a victory to Trump by 10 points in 2024. The 70-year-old Cuellar has held his seat since 2005, but he may face a unique challenge in this general election warding off Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, who represents the core base of the district. Gonzalez will face Eric Flores, an Army veteran and lawyer from Mission.
If they’re lucky, Garcia may find himself joining the ranks of those two remaining Texas Blue Dogs in Congress—but it will be an expensive uphill battle to avoid being swept aside in what is now more favorable red terrain in November.
The post Blue Dog Dem Fends Off Maureen Galindo in Wake of Anti-Zionist Tirades appeared first on The Texas Observer.
Leave a Reply