Johnny Garcia is the Democratic nominee for Texas' newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, having won a May 26, 2026 primary runoff with about 64% of the vote in a race that drew national attention after his opponent's comments about Jews and Zionists were widely condemned as antisemitic. He will face Republican nominee Carlos De La Cruz, a Trump-endorsed Air Force veteran, in the November 3 general election; the district was redrawn in Texas's mid-decade redistricting and is rated as leaning Republican.
Born and raised on the West Side of San Antonio by his mother, Garcia is a graduate of Memorial High School who worked construction jobs while attending St. Philip's College. At 21, he joined the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, where he has served for nearly two decades.
Garcia began his law enforcement career working in the Bexar County jail, where he led the Inmate Worker Program, a rehabilitation and job-training initiative for people in custody. He was later promoted to patrol and, within six months, selected to join the department's SWAT Crisis Negotiation Team, where he serves as a hostage negotiator; he has also served as the department's public information officer. Garcia describes himself as an "old-school Democrat" and a self-described "Blue Dog" moderate running to lower costs for working families.
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