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Democratic voters in a Texas runoff election on Tuesday nominated a sheriff's office spokesperson for a key House seat and rejected a left-wing activist who espoused castrating and imprisoning "American Zionists."
Johnny Garcia defeated Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist with little political experience. Garcia led Galindo by about 20 percentage points when the race was called by the Associated Press.
Democratic leaders had denounced Galindo, saying she would have embarrassed the party nationally and probably would have had a tougher time winning in a general election in a district drawn to give Republicans an edge.
Galindo's remarks this month brought new attention to the race in Texas's 35th Congressional District. The state's Republican-led legislature redrew the district last year to favor Republicans, but Democrats believe they have a chance to keep the seat. President Donald Trump won the district by 10 percentage points in 2024.
The district is currently represented by Rep. Greg Casar (D), who is running for reelection in the nearby 37th Congressional District, solidly blue after redistricting.
Over the past two weeks, Democrats rushed to condemn Galindo, push voters toward Garcia and highlight the GOP's suspected meddling in the race. Republicans watched the result closely as a barometer of their odds of flipping the seat in November.
The chaotic race prompted a closer look at campaign spending as Democratic leaders accused Republicans of using a shadowy political action committee to prop up Galindo with a flood of advertising.
To counteract that, Democrats spent last-minute money trying to defeat her. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched an ad over the weekend calling Galindo "MAGA Maureen." Blue Dog Action PAC, a super PAC allied with the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, spent $950,000 in the runoff, airing ads describing Galindo's support as a "Republican scam."
On Tuesday night, Garcia celebrated his victory, writing in Spanish on X: "No te metas con Tejas," meaning "Don't mess with Texas."
"Republicans tried to meddle in our election but tonight TX Democrats showed that we won't stand for hate," Garcia said.
Galindo captioned her Instagram post thanking her backers by saying, "Israel won tonight but this is only the beginning for US," a jab at the support Garcia received from pro-Israel groups.
In November, Garcia will face Carlos De La Cruz, who won the Republican runoff Tuesday. De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran, was endorsed by Trump.
In March, Galindo was the top vote-getter among four candidates in the district's Democratic primary. She received 29 percent of the vote. Garcia finished second with 27 percent.
Though Galindo won by a small margin, her primary performance surprised many Democrats. She ran as a fiery antiestablishment candidate. For weeks, she spoke about knotty topics, including Israel's war with Hamas, which she often called a "genocide" in interviews and on her social media.
But it wasn't until mid-May that she made comments that attracted nationwide criticism from both political parties.
In a May 13 Instagram post, Galindo wrote that if she were elected to Congress, she would pen a bill declaring "all Zionism" antisemitic and would turn a local U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement center into a facility to imprison "American Zionists." She also criticized Garcia for taking money from pro-Israel groups. Garcia's campaign vastly outraised her, according to federal election records.
Galindo has since said that she is not antisemitic and claimed that a local journalist twisted her words.
Galindo lost endorsements. The Democratic fundraising engine ActBlue shut off donations to her campaign. Republicans questioned whether Democrats would unequivocally condemn Galindo's comments.
They did - and in turn, the party propped up Garcia, while alleging the GOP was using the Lead Left PAC to boost Galindo so it would have an easier candidate to beat in November. Galindo denied any knowledge of the PAC.
Since early May, Lead Left has spent nearly $1 million to support her, according to its disclosures. The PAC, which has been linked to a Republican campaign donation processor, has also poured money into Democratic primaries in Nebraska and Pennsylvania but has not revealed its donors.
Democrats have used a similar tactic in past midterms.
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