TX35 hopeful Johnny Garcia hasn’t even secured his occasion’s nomination but, however nationwide Democrats are already itemizing him amongst their high candidates to take again seats within the U.S. Home this yr.
The 39-year-old Westside native has spent practically his complete profession on the Bexar County Sheriff’s Workplace, rising from jail guard to the SWAT crew and later serving because the sheriff’s communications director.
Although his marketing campaign launch within the new thirty fifth Congressional District stunned some native political watchers, nationwide Democratic Occasion leaders say he’s precisely what they wanted to place a tricky seat in play.
This week Garcia was added to the Democratic Congressional Marketing campaign Committee’s (DCCC) red-to-blue program, an elite group of 20 candidates believed to have one of the best likelihood of flipping seats both at present held by a Republican or — in mild of many redrawn congressional maps — drawn to favor one.
The designation means he’ll get extra strategic steerage, employees assets, candidate trainings and fundraising help for a race that Democratic tremendous PACs are already reserving adverts for this fall.
That’s after he was already a private visitor of the Democratic Nationwide Committee chair at a nationwide fundraiser earlier this yr, and benefitted from lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} in TV adverts boosting him via a four-way major.
Learn extra: The San Antonio Report’s 2026 Democratic Major Runoff Voter Information
“Johnny Garcia has devoted his profession to investing in San Antonio, and is able to reply the decision to serve his neighborhood in Congress,” U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Washington), who chairs the DCCC, mentioned in an announcement Monday. “Texans are desirous to elect a frontrunner that can put the wants of hardworking households first, and Garcia is able to step as much as the plate.”
First, Garcia should nonetheless get via a Could 26 Democratic major runoff — which isn’t a given.
In a district that was dramatically redrawn for the 2026 midterm, each events wound up with crowded fields filled with little-known candidates.
And regardless of spending lower than $5,000 on her marketing campaign, housing activist Maureen Galindo completed first in Democrats’ race, taking 29% within the first spherical, to Garcia’s 27%.
Learn extra: Meet housing activist Maureen Galindo, who rode a shoestring marketing campaign to a high-profile congressional runoff
Nonetheless, nationwide Democrats say Garcia’s reasonable politics and blue collar work expertise are precisely what they should win a district that’s been trending away from them within the period of President Donald Trump.
Beneath its new boundaries, Democrat Beto O’Rourke would have come a half a proportion level wanting carrying TX35 in 2018 — the final midterm election underneath a Trump presidency.
However by 2024, those self same voters supported Trump by greater than 10 proportion factors, making the realm a ripe goal for Republicans’ effort to squeeze extra GOP seats out of Texas.
Democrats hoped a bigger-name candidate would bounce in after incumbent U.S. Rep Greg Casar (D-Austin) was drawn out in redistricting, but probably contenders from the legislature had been set on the concept courts would finally throw out Republicans’ gerrymandered maps.
It wasn’t till the submitting interval had already opened that the Supreme Court docket gave the inexperienced mild for brand new maps for use.
In that void, the little-known Garcia caught consideration from nationwide operatives with a marketing campaign launch centered on his “old-school Democratic rules.”
He got here out distancing himself from his progressive, but well-liked, boss, Sheriff Javier Salazar, and stunned native political watchers by leapfrogging into one of many greatest new alternatives on Bexar County’s electoral map.
“He’s operating a marketing campaign with a message that’s extra paying homage to the opposite Texas Blue Canines — of us who’ve been capable of win seats with this partisan stability — versus a extra mainstream Democratic message,” mentioned Phil Gardner, a senior adviser for the Blue Canine Motion PAC that ran TV adverts serving to Garcia within the first spherical.
“[It’s] been a really attention-grabbing course of to see him go from someone who … was not fascinated by operating for Congress, he didn’t know that this seat was going to be drawn in the way in which it was, however he has stepped up and has put collectively a marketing campaign,” Gardner added.
Garcia says his authentic plan was to run for workplace when Salazar moved on to one thing larger.
However seven months into his marketing campaign, Garcia is now sounding extra like a congressional candidate by the day.
Talking to the North East Bexar County Democrats final month, Garcia mentioned he was operating to deal with “excessive gasoline costs, healthcare costs, grocery costs that we’re going through because of this failed administration.”
He additionally drew applause for criticizing Texas GOP leaders’ over a gerrymandering effort he mentioned was “created to silence Latino, black and minority voters” right here in San Antonio.
Some within the viewers remained skeptical about his help from nationwide Democratic teams that spent large to spice up him from obscurity. However Garcia mentioned that with out a candidate drawing assets to the district, Bexar County stood to finish this traditionally opportune election cycle with even fewer Democrats than when it began.
“I can’t management who decides to place their help in me, however from the get-go … there’s been just one candidate on this race that has come out because the front-runner and has garnered the help that we haven’t had right here in Texas,” Garcia mentioned. “We all know we’d like a candidate that’s going to assist us win again the bulk within the Home, so we are able to put some guardrails on this reckless administration.”
