{"id":290848,"date":"2025-10-10T02:48:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T02:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/290848\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T02:48:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T02:48:16","slug":"bexar-county-deputy-johnny-garcia-wages-congressional-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/290848\/","title":{"rendered":"Bexar County Deputy Johnny Garcia wages congressional bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Democrats nationally try to flip the script on crime<\/a>, they could soon lean on longtime Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy throwing his name in the hat for an uphill congressional race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI see the current administration using law enforcement, my profession, as a political weapon to divide communities rather than uniting them,\u201d said Johnny Garcia, <\/strong>a veteran deputy with the Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office and its current public information officer.<\/p>\n

Garcia announced plans to run for the newly redrawn Texas 35th Congressional District Thursday evening at Taqueria Mexico on the South Side.<\/p>\n

The district was dramatically reshaped under a redistricting plan that\u2019s being challenged in court, and could play a key role in Republican efforts to gain additional congressional seats in Texas during the 2026 election cycle.<\/p>\n

While numerous Republicans have lined up for the job, so far Democrats, who have a deep bench of elected officials in San Antonio haven\u2019t shown much interest.<\/p>\n

Garcia said he was motivated by tariff policies threatening jobs, families struggling with health care and his distaste for the Trump administration\u2019s approach to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office public information officer Johnny Garcia announced his plans to run for the Texas 35th Congressional District during a community event on the South Side on Thursday. Credit: Diego Medel \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day in my job, I tell the public, \u2018If you see something, say something. Well, I see something, and I\u2019m saying something tonight,\u201d Garcia told supporters Thursday.<\/p>\n

The current district \u2014 which connects urban areas between Austin and San Antonio \u2014 is represented by U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin), an outspoken progressive who is running in a more Austin-centric seat after being drawn out of the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new map would shift the district southward to include more exurban portions of Bexar County, creating an opportunity for Republicans in a district that was once solidly blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the current PIO for the sheriff\u2019s office, Garcia\u2019s path mirrors that of his boss, Sheriff Javier Salazar<\/a>, who spent 23 years as a San Antonio Police Officer, ending his career as the communications director prior to running for public office in 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Salazar, the rare progressive sheriff, went on to become one of the most effective communicators among the county\u2019s elected officials, something he credits in part to his time as a PIO.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver my 32 year career\u2026 No job over there prepared me more than when I was the spokesman,\u201d Salazar said while introducing Garcia at the event.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar introduces Johnny Garcia Thursday during a community event announcing Garcia\u2019s run for the new Texas 35th Congressional District. Credit: Diego Medel \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Garcia said he plans to leverage his experience as a PIO to bring \u201ca public service frame of mind\u201d to the race, emphasizing transparency and accessibility.<\/p>\n

He also called his seven years as Salazar\u2019s spokesman great training for the job: \u201cAnswering tough questions, being transparent and pursuing truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike his boss, Garcia said he\u2019s more of an \u201can old-school Democrat,\u201d focused on restoring \u201cold-school Democratic principles\u201d and delivering for working and middle-class families.<\/p>\n

He also made sure to highlight his long career on the enforcement side before moving over to communications.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve served this community, patrolling rural areas of Bexar County, working in the jail, protecting and serving, and then transferring out to patrol,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cThis is not foreign to me. This community is not foreign to me, both urban or rural.\u201d<\/p>\n

The redrawn district is roughly split between white and Latino voters, with about half of the voters living in Bexar County.\u00a0<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump would have carried the district by 10 percentage points, and some Democrats worry it\u2019s become more challenging than it looks on paper, because of the low voting propensity of the district\u2019s voters of color.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s a tall order, but at the end of the day, everyday Texans are facing the same realities \u2014 higher grocery bills, gas, health care and housing that\u2019s just out of reach,\u201d Garcia said. \u201dThat translates to both sides of the aisle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office public information officer Johnny Garcia poses for photos with his mother and sister after announcing his plans to run for the newly proposed Texas 35th Congressional District on Thursday. Credit: Diego Medel \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

If he makes it through the Democratic primary, Garcia could go up against a familiar face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio), who flipped a competitive South Side House district in recent years<\/a>, is running, as is business owner Chris Schuchardt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the Democratic side, former mayoral hopeful Beto Altamirano is also considering<\/a> the race.<\/p>\n

Candidate filing for the 2026 primary election is expected to open Nov. 8, pending final court approval of Texas\u2019 congressional maps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Democrats nationally try to flip the script on crime, they could soon lean on longtime Bexar County…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":290849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,24545,7288,327,149162,90,47398,102297,149163,80,22204,7202,7203,97974,358,149164,76449,7453,3187,149165,7815,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,20705],"class_list":{"0":"post-290848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bcso","10":"tag-bexar-county","11":"tag-congress","12":"tag-congressional-district-35","13":"tag-elections","14":"tag-greg-casar","15":"tag-john-lujan","16":"tag-johnny-garcia","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-redistricting","19":"tag-san-antonio","20":"tag-sanantonio","21":"tag-sheriff-javier-salazar","22":"tag-texas","23":"tag-texas-35th","24":"tag-texas-democrats","25":"tag-top-story","26":"tag-tx","27":"tag-tx35","28":"tag-typedaily","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-united-states-of-america","31":"tag-unitedstates","32":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","33":"tag-us","34":"tag-usa","35":"tag-wc-750-1000"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115347594438702220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}