An upcoming Democratic runoff for a red-leaning open House seat in Texas that could be competitive in November is now emerging as a stark example of the growing tensions between moderate candidates and their fringe opponents on the extreme left over how to approach Israel and the rise of antisemitism.
The May 26 election in Texas’ recently redrawn 35th Congressional District, which was created to favor Republicans and extends from San Antonio to Austin, pits Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy who is backed by pro-Israel Democrats and establishment officials, against Maureen Galindo, a local activist who has used her growing social media presence to promote a range of conspiracy theories, including specious claims about Israel and its ties to the United States.
Despite spending only around $4,000 on her insurgent bid and raising no money, Galindo, 38, narrowly finished first in the crowded primary earlier this month, clinching just over 29% of the vote — two points ahead of Garcia, who placed second. The other two Democratic primary candidates, John Lira and Whitney Masterson-Moyes, each won about 20%. Both have since endorsed Galindo in the runoff.
The unexpected result has raised serious doubts among mainstream Democrats and nonpartisan election observers over whether the party can win the seat if it nominates Galindo, who last year ran unsuccessfully for San Antonio City Council — and whose unhinged rhetoric is likely to alienate voters in the general election.
Her upset also underscores how, on both sides of the aisle, fringe candidates prone to conspiracism that increasingly focuses on Israel are managing to gain some traction — amid an uptick in antisemitic violence linked to the war in Gaza and now in Iran.
In an interview with Jewish Insider last Friday, however, Garcia, 39, said he had anticipated the possibility of a runoff, projecting confidence about his ability to claim the nomination for a seat he and national Democratic leaders believe he is best suited to win this fall.
He said he had already expanded his coalition in the days after the primary, earning new endorsements from both current and former elected officials who had previously remained neutral, while otherwise drawing contrasts with an opponent whose unstable messaging, he argued, shows a lack of connection to voters’ everyday concerns in the heavily Latino district.
“Although the desired outcome would have been making sure that we powered through the primary without a runoff, here we are in a situation to make sure that we are educating the voters about who the two candidates are,” he said, claiming that only “one aligns with” a district that he described as “very blue-collar.”
He characterized Galindo, by comparison, as a polarizing figure whose penchant for incendiary rhetoric threatens to stoke intraparty divisions in the House and inflame tensions nationally, accusing her of fomenting antisemitism in her commentaries on social media.
“Antisemitism is dangerous, and this country has enough divide as it is with what we’re seeing at the top by those in power,” he told JI. “We don’t need more of that, in a time where division is so strong and hate is driven by antisemitism. We don’t need more of that, especially coming from a Democratic candidate running for Congress.”
During a moment of increased political tensions fueled in part by “wars in the Middle East” raising security concerns in the Jewish community, Garcia argued, “we don’t need somebody like that making antisemitic remarks, and conspiracy theories, that could potentially drive what we just saw yesterday in Michigan,” referring to the foiled terrorist attack that targeted a synagogue in suburban Detroit last Thursday.
Citing his career in law enforcement, Garcia, who said he had worked in construction and plumbing before serving as a corrections officer and later as a hostage negotiator on an elite SWAT team, broadly emphasized his appreciation for nonprofit security grants that help protect religious institutions from terror attacks. New federal funding is currently tied up in Congress amid a partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security.
“I support security grants for synagogues and Jewish schools, with the ability to also monitor hateful rhetoric and antisemitism online and to streamline the response across law enforcement agencies,” Garcia told JI. “Here in San Antonio, we understand that, when we have an attack anywhere in the nation, it is our direct response to make sure that the fates that are being directly impacted are remaining safe, and ensuring those who practice a particular faith, such those who attend synagogues, will be safe. That is a priority.”
In her own campaign, meanwhile, Galindo has demonstrated an unusual fixation on Israel, while using messaging that invokes antisemitic tropes. “We need Congress members that put America before Israel, I can’t even believe I’m having to say this!!” she wrote in one representative online post. “If it’s not clear, I DO NOT SUPPORT AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS GOING TO ISRAEL AND WILL NEVERRRR ACCEPT THEIR BLOOD MONEY.”
She has devoted much of her attention to what she suggests are pernicious links between San Antonio and Israel, while baselessly insinuating that “there may be Israeli soldiers” secretly embedded in U.S. federal immigration operations. She has frequently claimed that the Department of Homeland Security is based out of Tel Aviv, citing as evidence a screenshot purporting to show the agency had created its X account in the Israeli city — which X’s head of product has dismissed as “fake news” and a “hoax.”
Meanwhile, the first section in the issues page featured on Galindo’s campaign website refers to “genocide,” only mentioning Israel. “We must stop funding Israel with billions of American workers’ tax dollars every year,” she says. “Instead we can invest that money in a STRONGER AMERICA.”
In an email to JI last week, Galindo, who declined to be interviewed, did not answer questions asking if she was aware that her language on Israel echoes antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“Jewish-Americans are saying that Israeli government actions are escalating antisemitism which of course makes me fear how Israeli and American aggressions are harming Jewish people around the world!” she wrote in response.
She also refused to acknowledge that her repeated claims regarding DHS had been discredited. “It would be sus if the DHS in Tel Aviv post was debunked because I saw it with my own eyes that day!” Galindo said. “I hope X leadership isn’t compromised. You should look into that for the safety of all Jewish people — we must stop harm to Semites and end genocide!”
For his part, Garcia expressed strong support for Israel and its relationship with the United States last week. “I firmly believe the actors of Hamas are a terrorist organization,” he said. “We need to make sure our closest ally in the Middle East remains safe and has the ability to protect itself.”
“Making sure the region remains safe and remains stable is a priority,” he explained to JI. “We need to ensure the area does not destabilize and allow for other terrorist organizations to sprout and spring up, especially at a time where we are now in a new war with Iran.”
While he acknowledged Iran “has been a leading sponsor of terrorism for years and everyone agrees unilaterally that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Garcia disagreed with the manner in which the Trump administration has prosecuted the war, saying it has endangered American soldiers and resulted in escalating gas prices back home, at a moment when voters are more concerned with basic affordability issues such as rising grocery and health care costs.
“This war is careless and it’s reckless,” he told JI, adding that military “families here in San Antonio are fearful their children will be going and fighting in this endless war.”
His centrist approach to foreign policy and other topics has earned Garcia endorsements from the moderate Blue Dog PAC and Democratic Majority for Israel, which recently included him on its first slate of non-incumbent House candidates for the midterms.
“Let’s be clear, there is only one Democrat who can win this race and it’s Johnny Garcia,” Brian Romick, DMFI’s president and chair of its political arm, said in a statement to JI. “DMFI PAC is proud to support him because if Democrats are going to win back the House, we need to support candidates like Johnny who can actually win in November.”
Even as the nonpartisan Cook Political Report has ranked the race “likely Republican” in its election forecast, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has indicated it is optimistic it can win the seat, adding it to a list of “districts in play” late last year.
“Knowing their record of broken promises has turned voters against them, Republicans are attempting to save their microscopic majority by trying to diminish the power of voters of color in Texas,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), who chairs the DCCC, said in December. “Democrats will not let their cynical power play go down without a fight. The DCCC will work to ensure the people of Texas’ 35th District have the representation they deserve.”
Local political experts agreed the race could be in reach for Democrats this November, depending on the outcome of the runoff — where Republicans also are fielding two candidates after a primary where no candidate came close to securing more than 50% of the vote required to win the nomination outright.
“I wouldn’t consider any runoff in which neither candidate broke 30% in the first round to be a sure thing,” David Crockett, a political scientist at Trinity University in San Antonio, warned last week about the Democratic runoff. “This will hinge on turnout and organization, and where the voters for the third and fourth place finishers go.”
Jon Taylor, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, shared a more sanguine assessment, suggesting Galindo “may have benefitted from a low name identification primary.”
“But based on the also-rans from the primary and Garcia’s fundraising and organizational advantage,” Taylor told JI, he suspects that Garcia will win the May contest. “Lira and Whitney Masterson-Moyes’ voters are more likely to gravitate toward the more moderate Garcia.”
Looking to the fall, “Garcia provides national Democrats with better material to work with in November and none of the liabilities of the more extreme and at times unbalanced Galindo,” noted Mark P. Jones, a political scientist at Houston’s Rice University.
Though the GOP had drawn the new seat to help give the party an edge — the product of mid-decade redistricting that transformed a solidly blue enclave held by progressive Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), who is now running for a different seat — experts said that a difficult national political environment now facing Republicans could shape their chances for a pick-up in the general election.
The Democratic nominee will face off against either John Lujan, a state lawmaker backed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott who flipped a blue San Antonio seat in 2021, or Carlos De La Cruz, a U.S. Air Force veteran who won a late endorsement from President Donald Trump that complicated the primary’s closing stage. Lujan, who placed first with 33% of the vote, bested De La Cruz, whose sister is Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), by six points, hardly a strong total for either candidate.
“Democrats across the country and in Texas over the last year and more have run well ahead of their historic vote shares,” said Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “It looks like 2026 is shaping up to be a good Democrat year nationally and in Texas.”
Unless the political landscape changes “in the Republicans’ favor between now and Election Day,” he told JI, “I would think any district that is less than” heavily favorable for the GOP “might be available to a good Democrat candidate running a good race.”
In the meantime, though, Garcia said that he is focusing on shoring up support in advance of the runoff, as he works to prevent his extremist rival from another upset. “Now more than ever,” he said, “we need to be united — not just as Democrats, but as a nation. We can’t allow hateful vitriol or further divides to fuel tensions and create an environment for attacks” targeting the Jewish community.
“My title in law enforcement, in the state statute, is peace officer,” Garcia explained to JI. “That’s what we are, first and foremost. We’re not deputies, we’re not policemen. We are peace officers. And I believe strongly in peace and diplomacy.”
“That is what I starkly bring to this race” and what “we’re ultimately fighting to restore in Congress as well,” he said.