In their first and likely only forum, the two candidates in a surprisingly competitive San Antonio district made similar appeals to voters 11 days before the start of early voting.<\/p>\n
Republican nominee Carlos De La Cruz<\/a> and Democratic nominee Johnny Garcia<\/a> both acknowledged the affordability issues motivating their newly redrawn Congressional District 35 voters this election.<\/p>\n They drew on their respective backgrounds in the military and law enforcement at the Thursday forum hosted by the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Texas Public Radio, and even showed some willingness to break from their parties\u2019 leaders in an appeal to the moderate nature of the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n De La Cruz was fresh off a visit from President Donald Trump<\/a> in San Antonio to boost his candidacy, a nod to how critical the race for the newly created district is to the GOP\u2019s delicate House majority. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana)\u00a0dubbed it the \u201cwhole enchilada\u201d<\/a>\u00a0of the midterm elections when campaigning in San Antonio earlier this summer. <\/p>\n Watch on YouTube<\/p>\n Watch the full TX35 candidate forum, moderated by TPR, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n District 35 shifted drastically after Republicans\u2019 mid-decade redistricting effort drew incumbent Greg Casar (D-Austin) out of its lines. Casar instead opted to run in a different district, leaving the seat open.<\/p>\n The majority of the district\u2019s eligible voters are Hispanic, a group that swung for Trump last cycle, and one that Democrats are hoping to make inroads with this cycle. Trump carried the district<\/a> by 10 percentage points last election.<\/p>\n Garcia, a Bexar County sheriff\u2019s deputy, emphasized his San Antonio upbringing and working class background, often speaking Spanish to make his points. He said voters\u2019 economic struggles were the genesis of his campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in this district were sold on a false promise that things would be fixed on day one, but here were are, nearly two years, and we\u2019re still feeling the same pinch and squeezed,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n Retired Air Force veteran De La Cruz focused on his military and border enforcement background. <\/p>\n \u201cMy community, I know, wants a safe and secure border,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want safe communities. They do not want any sort of defund the police nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n Both candidates stressed that they could understand constituents who were struggling with the rising costs of groceries and health care premiums. <\/p>\n On immigration, Garcia deviated from party lines, saying that \u201cBiden got it wrong\u201d when it came to U.S.- Mexico border policy. Still, the Trump Administration\u2019s immigration enforcement actions have harmed the local economy, he argued.<\/p>\n \u201cI just spoke to the San Antonio Builders Association this past week, and when I talked to that room full of folks, they were completely agitated with the ICE raids that they\u2019re seeing targeted enforcement doesn\u2019t look like attacking our workforce,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n De La Cruz said Trump\u2019s tariffs were \u201ca little too broad \u2014 way too broad,\u201d and that more \u201cstrategic\u201d tariffs were needed to protect small businesses. <\/p>\n He drew on his past running a kickboxing gym when talking about the cost of tariffs, shared his own experience with getting an SBA loan and decried the impacts of government regulations on businesses.<\/p>\n The two candidates also agreed on the need to protect local military installations from base closures.<\/p>\n They said the move of Army North and Army South<\/a> out of San Antonio \u2014 and even the closure of Kelly Air Force Base 25 years ago \u2014 are losses that cannot be repeated.<\/p>\n \u201cI would try and get onto our Armed Services Committee once I do get into Congress because when we\u2019re making decisions on where headquarters actually land in this country, I want to be that person at the table making the decisions,\u201d De La Cruz said.<\/p>\n Garcia called the base closures a \u201cpersonal attack\u201d by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n \u201cThey targeted San Antonio, and they removed some critical functions of our bases here in San Antonio, and that was like a gut punch to folks,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n Both candidates shied away from making promises to support current or proposed federal legislation, and instead opted to more broadly support ideas or themes.<\/p>\n De La Cruz\u2019s sister, U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Edinburg), currently represents some of the district\u2019s more rural parts and has walked a more moderate line on immigration. She has pushed for the Bracero Program 2.0 Act<\/a> to allow guest workers for the critical South Texas agriculture sector.<\/p>\n On that question from TPR\u2019s Joey Palacios, her brother said \u201cI think we all agree immigration needs some serious reform.\u201d <\/p>\n But he did not commit to supporting that legislation and focused on providing support for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers and law enforcement agencies on the border, operations he has supported in a military capacity.<\/p>\n The two also hit similar notes on data centers, veterans\u2019 issues and a ban on congressional stock trading.<\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s characterization as Blue Dog Democrat and De La Cruz\u2019s political outsider perspective have shaped the race<\/a> into one that defies traditional party messaging and attacks, and one that will be essential to the GOP\u2019s hold on the House majority.<\/p>\n