Texas’ 35th Congressional District in South Central Texas was victim to the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting plans, which was requested by President Donald Trump and aims to flip five US House seats in Texas from Democrat to Republican.
The maps passed the Texas Legislature last year and take effect this election year.
The 35th Congressional District, which represents parts of Austin, New Braunfels, and San Antonio was previously a Democratic stronghold, but will now see a competitive race in November after its new district boundaries contain less than 10% of its former constituency.
The district’s current representative, Democrat Greg Casar, is now running for reelection in the 37th District after his political base in Austin was drawn out of the 35th District in the new map.
Despite these changes, the redrawn maps have created a Hispanic-majority district, and Democrats are setting their sights on maintaining control of the seat by capitalizing on a leftward shift of Hispanic voters since President Donald Trump began his second term.
Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Johnny Garcia won the Democratic nominee for the district after defeating activist Maureen Galindo in a primary runoff election on May 26.
Garcia has pitched himself as an “old-school, law-and-order” Democrat throughout his campaign, focusing his priorities on increasing federal grant funding for local law enforcement, ending Trump’s tariffs, strengthening the Affordable Care Act, reforming ICE, and preventing members of Congress from stock trading.
See an in-depth look on his stances here.
Garcia will face Republican Carlos De La Cruz, who was endorsed by Trump and won his own party’s runoff in May, in the Nov. 3 general election. His sister is US Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Edinburg).
Garcia has run on strengthening border security by further funding immigration enforcement and increasing border infrastructure. He’s also received large amounts of financial support from Defending Our Values PAC, a conservative super PAC that is pro-AI, but says it supports guardrails and regulations on AI, specifically around child safety. The PAC is funded by Public First Action, another pro-AI super PAC that’s received $20 million from Anthropic and focuses on advancing an AI policy agenda in Washington.
He’s also been endorsed by Texas Republican Jodey Arrington, lead author of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which cut health care and food access for thousands of Texans in the 35th District.
See where he stands on various issues here.
Election Day for the 2026 midterms is Nov. 3, with early voting beginning on Oct. 19. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5. Check your voter registration status here.
