BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A public information officer for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office announced his plans to run for the newly redrawn Texas 35th Congressional District.
Johnny Garcia — a lifelong San Antonio resident with nearly two decades of law enforcement experience — made the announcement alongside Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and family members Thursday night at Taqueria Mexico on the Southwest Side.
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Garcia said that he’s running as a Democrat. He told reporters he wants to “restore Democratic principles.”
“To restore our Congress for working- and middle-class families. To help right our economy,” Garcia stated. “To ensure health care is affordable and to restore faith in the American dream."
He stated that tariffs and the actions of politicians influenced his decision to run for the congressional seat.
The BCSO veteran also shared that he believes Texans have lost faith in the American dream due to the current administration using law enforcement as a “political weapon to divide communities.”
“It’s not just the policies, the tariffs that threaten the jobs of my neighbors building Toyota trucks, 18-wheelers, farming equipment, and much more,“ Garcia said. ”It’s the politicians, those who say one thing and do another, those too afraid to break the chain of command, to speak the truth, to those afraid to cross an aisle and build goodwill."
Garcia also said he plans to use his background as a public information officer to bring “transparency and truth” to the race.
“Every day in my job, I tell the public, if you see something, say something,” Garcia said. “Well, I see something and I’m saying something tonight."
U.S. Rep Greg Casar currently represents Texas’ 35th congressional district. It was overhauled to favor the GOP during the state Legislature’s mid-decade redistricting over the summer, the Texas Tribune reported.
Under the new map, the district is now focused in San Antonio and three counties east of the city.
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