{"id":314682,"date":"2026-05-29T23:25:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T23:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/314682\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T23:25:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T23:25:07","slug":"tx-35-democratic-runoff-ended-with-epic-spending-burst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/314682\/","title":{"rendered":"TX-35 Democratic runoff ended with epic spending burst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 On Tuesday, Democrats in a new San Antonio-area congressional district headed to the polls to settle a once sleepy runoff that had abruptly catapulted to national prominence in the closing weeks.<\/p>\n

They picked Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Johnny Garcia over housing activist Maureen Galindo by a decisive 27-point margin, drawing a collective sigh from national Democratic groups that had spent buckets of last-second cash to counter what appeared to be a GOP-backed push to elevate Galindo. <\/p>\n

Despite raising little money, Galindo finished first in the March primary, casting a spotlight on her past embrace of antisemitic stereotypes in social media posts that claimed Jews run Hollywood and worship the \u201csynagogue of Satan.\u201d Then, a few weeks before the runoff, reports<\/a> emerged that she was getting support from a mysterious pop-up group, Lead Left PAC, linked to the Republican donation platform WinRed.<\/p>\n

What followed was a flurry of outside spending that highlighted how the district, designed to elect a Republican in last summer\u2019s mid-decade redistricting, was now shaping up to be one of Texas\u2019 hottest congressional battlegrounds this fall. To counter Lead Left PAC, a handful of Democratic groups mobilized to spend a combined $1.7 million on TV, radio and digital ads attacking Galindo and boosting Garcia over the last three weeks of the runoff. The ads largely focused on telling voters she was being propped up by Republicans because the GOP saw her as the easier opponent in November, driving home the point with nicknames like \u201cMAGA Maureen.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the spending ramped up, Garcia took to social media to sound the alarm on the \u201call out arms race\u201d unfolding.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans are frightened for me to make it out of the run off,\u201d Garcia wrote<\/a>. \u201cI stepped into this race to tell Trump and Abbott that their gerrymander was NOT going to succeed ON MY WATCH!\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201carms race\u201d escalated on May 13, when Galindo said in an Instagram post<\/a> that, if elected, she would write legislation to turn an immigration detention center in the district into a \u201cprison for American Zionists\u201d and \u201ccastration processing center for pedophiles,\u201d which she added \u201cwill probably be most of the Zionists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big-name Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico<\/a>, disavowed the remark and slammed Galindo. She also drew criticism from Texas Reps. Greg Casar<\/a> and Al Green<\/a>, the latter of whom introduced a House resolution<\/a> days before the runoff condemning her comments. <\/p>\n

At the same time, Lead Left PAC continued to dump more money into the race, reporting<\/a> a $500,000 ad buy on May 19, midway through early voting. By the end of the race, the PAC had spent a hair over $1 million to boost Galindo, according to its filings<\/a> with the Federal Election Commission. <\/p>\n

But Democratic outside groups parried with $1.7 million worth of TV, radio and digital ads after Lead Left PAC waded into the race, which happened about three weeks before Tuesday\u2019s runoff, according numbers compiled by media tracking firm AdImpact. The rush of last-minute Democratic spending, combined with the cash flowing into Republicans\u2019 District 35 runoff, meant the district hosted more ad spending during the overtime period than any other in Texas.<\/p>\n

The Democratic cavalry was led by the Democratic super PAC Project 218 and the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, which combined for more than $1.5 million of the pro-Garcia outside spending. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats\u2019 campaign arm which rarely spends in primaries, also went up on TV a few days before Tuesday\u2019s election, with a spot describing Galindo as \u201cthe easiest Dem to beat\u201d and slapping the \u201cMAGA\u201d label before her name. Project 218, meanwhile, promoted Garcia as the \u201cone true Democrat in the race.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans are so terrified of their cynical attempt to subvert the will of Texas\u2019 voters backfiring that they\u2019ve resorted to uplifting an openly antisemitic candidate to boost their dwindling chances,\u201d DCCC spokesperson Madison Andrus said in a news release after Lead Left PAC\u2019s involvement came to light.<\/p>\n

Latino Vets for Garcia, a grassroots group supporting Garcia, put up signs at polling locations around San Antonio reading \u201cYolanda Sald\u00edvar would vote for Maureen Galindo,\u201d referring to the woman who fatally shot Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. <\/p>\n

Galindo denied that her comments were antisemitic or that the super PAC could be linked to Republicans. In a statement posted on social media after the runoff election, she claimed a symbolic victory \u201cbecause of all the corruption my campaign exposed in the world and all the people we\u2019ve inspired.\u201d The caption of a separate video posted on election night read, \u201cIsrael won tonight but this is only the beginning for US.\u201d <\/p>\n

Galindo routinely blasted Garcia for accepting money from the pro-Israel PAC Democratic Majority for Israel, characterizing him as the \u201cZionist-backed cop-candidate.\u201d The PAC spent about $163,000 on Garcia through direct mail advertising, FEC filings show.<\/p>\n

With the runoff behind him, Garcia will face Republican Carlos De La Cruz in the November general election, after De La Cruz won a runoff of his own against state Rep. John Lujan<\/a>, R-San Antonio. <\/p>\n

De La Cruz, the brother of U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz<\/a>, R-Edinburg, is generally seen as the favorite: The district would have voted for Donald Trump by a 10-point margin had its boundaries existed in 2024, and the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections forecaster, rates the district \u201clikely Republican.\u201d To overcome their built-in disadvantage, Democrats are banking on a rebound with Latino voters, who make up just over half of District 35\u2019s eligible voting population. While Latino voters shifted dramatically to the right last cycle, a steady stream of polling, in Texas and nationally, has shown the GOP losing their support due largely to economic concerns.<\/p>\n

In a social media post after the race was called in his favor Tuesday, Garcia wrote that \u201cRepublicans tried to meddle in our election but tonight TX Democrats showed that we won\u2019t stand for hate.\u201d He continued, saying \u201cNo te metas con Tejas,\u201d or Don\u2019t mess with Texas. <\/p>\n

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