U.S. House District 35 candidates Carlos De La Cruz (left) and Johnny Garcia (right) after a candidate forum organized by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 8, 2026.
Blaine Young/For the Express-News
Political newcomers Carlos De La Cruz and Johnny Garcia live outside the redrawn San Antonio-area district they aim to represent in the U.S. House, according to a review of Bexar County records.
De La Cruz, the Republican nominee for Texas’ 35th Congressional District, is registered to vote at a house in the Wortham Oaks subdivision near Bulverde, which is in the 21st Congressional District.
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De La Cruz has residential and disabled veteran homestead exemptions for the house, tax breaks that are available to owners who live at their property and consider it their principle residence.
“Carlos and his wife bought their home after he retired from the Air Force, when running for Congress was the last thing on his mind,” said campaign manager Jordan Pawlicki.
His house will remain in the 21st District when the state’s redrawn congressional map takes effect in January.
Garcia’s campaign said he rents an apartment in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood. The address they provided is within the current 35th District boundaries, but is not within its new lines. It will be in the 20th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Joaquin Castro.
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Unlike state and local representatives, members of Congress don’t have to live in the district they represent. The only requirements are that they are at least 25 years old, have been a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years and live in the state they represent.
Most members, however, reside in their districts when they aren’t in Washington, D.C. In 2017, the Washington Post found at least 20 members of the House of Representatives were registered to vote at an address outside of their district — almost 5% of the 435-member body.
“This whole thing of residency and lack of residency is a consequence of this mid-decade redistricting,” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
At President Donald Trump’s request, the Texas Legislature redrew the state’s congressional map in 2025 in an effort to flip five Democratically-held congressional seats in November’s midterm elections, including the 35th District.
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The district currently extends from Austin to San Antonio along Interstate 35. Rep. Greg Casar, a progressive Democrat who has held the seat since 2023, opted to run for the newly configured 37th Congressional District anchored in Austin.
Under the redrawn map, the 35th District is now anchored on San Antonio’s Southeast Side and includes portions of southern, eastern and northeastern Bexar County, including Seguin, Universal City, China Grove and La Vernia. It also includes three rural and reliably red counties east of San Antonio: Guadalupe, Wilson and Karnes — which are currently represented by De La Cruz’s sister, Republican Monica De La Cruz of Edinburg.
Texas Democrats couldn’t convince a big-name candidate with ties to San Antonio’s South Side to run for the open seat. Garcia, 39, has spent almost two decades with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, working in the jail, on patrol, as a SWAT hostage negotiator, and since 2018, as office spokesman. Sheriff Javier Salazar encouraged him to run for the new congressional district.
Garcia came in second in the four-way Democratic primary. He won the May 26 Democratic runoff against Mauren Galindo with 64% of the vote.
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Texas Republicans had expected state Rep. John Lujan to be their nominee — after all, the district was drawn with him in mind. His Texas House district largely falls within the new lines.
But Trump threw a wrench in that plan by endorsing De La Cruz, 47 — who was unknown in local political circles — ahead of the Republican primary. De La Cruz forced Lujan into a runoff, which De La Cruz won with 58% of the vote.
Trump’s endorsement could be viewed as a reward for both Monica De La Cruz’s support for his agenda and the fact that redistricting shook up her own district’s boundaries.
She is seeking a third term representing Texas’ 15th Congressional District and faces Democrat Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy-winning Tejano singer from the Rio Grande Valley. The race is far closer than state lawmakers believed it would be when they reconfigured her district to help flip the 35th District seat from blue to red.
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Nearly 60% of the redrawn 15th District’s territory was part of another district and is new to Monica De La Cruz, according to the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections forecaster.
In late September, the forecaster shifted the South Texas race from “Lean Republican” to a toss-up.
Taylor, the political science professor, said residency does matter to voters.
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“You want somebody who lives in your district to actually represent the district,” he said.
Garcia intends to move into the 35th District if elected on Nov. 3, said campaign manager Katie Bartizal. Pawlicki said De La Cruz would do the same.