Republicans Are Running A Fake Democratic Campaign In Texas (w/ Johnny Garcia)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes – “Republicans Are Running A Fake Democratic Campaign In Texas”

Host: Tim Miller (The Bulwark)

Guest: Johnny Garcia (Democratic candidate, TX-35)

Date: May 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this spirited episode, Tim Miller dives into a revealing discussion with Johnny Garcia, a Democrat vying for Congress in Texas’s 35th district, which covers parts of San Antonio. The main thrust: how Republican groups are meddling in the Democratic primary by propping up a fringe candidate to increase their chances in the general election. They discuss the evolving Latino vote, the impacts of gerrymandering, real-world struggles facing Texans, and why Garcia feels uniquely positioned to flip the script on the GOP’s electoral schemes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Johnny Garcia’s Background and Motivation

[01:44–03:32]

• Garcia was born and raised in San Antonio, attended Memorial High, worked construction and plumbing, then joined the sheriff’s office.
• Developed core communication skills as a jail officer, later became a SWAT team hostage negotiator.
• Now serves as a spokesperson for the sheriff’s administration, emphasizing accountability and community trust.
• Motivated to run by everyday economic struggles felt in South Texas—rising groceries and gas costs—and “making life more affordable for everyday Texans.”

2. Shifting Latino Vote & Community Concerns

[03:32–06:29]

• Tim Miller asks about the supposed realignment of working-class Latino voters toward Trump, and whether there’s regret or further shifts back to Democrats.
• Garcia:

  “I don’t say voters remorse anymore because we’re seeing voters regrets in this district." [04:31]

• Anecdote: After a bipartisan forum, a Republican attendee told Garcia she’d support him in the general despite being unable to vote in the primary.
• Garcia discusses frustration within the community over border security, but notes people didn't want excess force from ICE:

  "They didn’t ask for ICE agents to be attacking construction sites or panaderias school pickup lines." [05:18]

• Many are simply focused on affording daily essentials—a throughline in his campaign messaging.

3. Republican Interference: The ‘Fake Democrat’ Plot

[07:54–11:22]

• Miller details how Republican-aligned PACs are funding ads for Maureen Galindo (Garcia’s opponent), a candidate with little support or fundraising, and an affinity for conspiratorial, anti-Semitic rhetoric.

• “The Republicans... are putting in a bunch of money on ads to support her, to prop her up because I think she’ll be an easier opponent... They’re pretending like they’re being Democrats.” [08:15]

• Garcia calls out Galindo’s divisiveness and highlights the cynical manipulation, qualifying it as “vile” and contrived.

• “From the onset, my mission has been to strengthen and unify and broaden our coalition in this party... When she decides to focus on conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic remarks rather than focus on the everyday issues that are impacting families, it’s divisive and it’s vile and it has no place in our Democratic Party.” [09:26]

• The “dummy-mander”—GOP’s gerrymander attempt—may backfire, as Garcia has built broad coalition and major endorsements (Pete Buttigieg, Congressman Greg Casar, Lloyd Doggett, Wendy Davis).

4. Impact of Healthcare and Local Stories

[11:49–12:51]

• Garcia shares real constituent hardship:

  “A gentleman said... when the Affordable Care Act lapsed, I was paying $75 for my COPD medication... when that subsidies lapsed... I went from paying $75 to $200... I had to stop it.” [11:49]

• His own sister saw her health insurance jump from $100 to $200 a paycheck.
• Garcia positions himself as the advocate for working-class families burdened by policy lapses and market failures.

5. Democratic Accountability & Strategies to Win Back Voters

[12:51–15:32]

• Miller asks Garcia for candor about Democratic missteps with working-class Latinos:

  “Is there something in particular you think they really got wrong?” [13:16]

• Garcia tells a story about engaging a MAGA-identified deputy by highlighting that in public service, party affiliation is irrelevant:

  “When we respond to calls for service, we don’t ask dispatch whether that home we’re headed to is Democratic or Republican... we just respond.” [13:53]

• Sees hope in a pragmatic, people-first message that resonates across the spectrum, including with some traditional Republicans.

6. Lighter Moment: Spurs-Nuggets Rivalry & San Antonio Culture

[15:32–17:45]

• Light banter over the San Antonio Spurs’ string of fortunate draft picks.
• Garcia jokes:

  “Fair is where pigs go to win a ribbon. The NBA doesn’t issue ribbons.” [16:23]

• Describes San Antonio's celebratory “honking” tradition after Spurs wins—a window into local pride.
• Concludes with campaign plug:

  “Votejohnnygarcia.com... We need your help to make sure that we win this race so we can ultimately win back our House majority.” [17:45]

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Notable Quotes

• Johnny Garcia [04:31]:
  “We’re seeing voters regrets in this district... Latinos in this district are starting to realize how harder it is to make it to Sunday to buy their barbacoa and Big Red.”

• Tim Miller [08:15]:
  “…the Republicans who like claim to care about anti-Semitism... they’re putting in a bunch of money on ads to support her, to prop her up because I think she’ll be an easier opponent…”

• Johnny Garcia [09:26]:
  “When she decides to focus on conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic remarks rather than focus on the everyday issues that are impacting families, it’s divisive and it’s vile and it has no place in our Democratic Party.”

• Johnny Garcia [16:23]: “Fair is where pigs go to win a ribbon. The NBA doesn’t issue ribbons.”

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Key Timestamps

• 01:44 — Garcia’s background and law enforcement experience.
• 04:31 — Garcia on "voters regrets" and the community’s concerns.
• 07:54 — Discussion of GOP-backed intervention in the Democratic primary.
• 09:26 — Garcia condemns conspiratorial rhetoric and division.
• 11:49 — Testimonies about healthcare hardship in the district.
• 13:53 — Policing and public service as a unifying, nonpartisan message.
• 15:32 — Brief detour into basketball loyalty and San Antonio culture.
• 17:45 — Campaign call to action: VoteJohnnyGarcia.com

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, occasionally sardonic (especially regarding the GOP’s manipulations and basketball banter).
• Garcia is earnest, rooted in personal anecdotes, with a focus on inclusive, pragmatic solutions.
• Miller frames the race as emblematic of larger trends and threats to electoral fairness.

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Recap

This episode spotlights a rapidly evolving Texas congressional race where Johnny Garcia, a working-class Democrat and law enforcement professional, is battling not just a primary challenger but also manipulative Republican interventions attempting to handpick a weaker Democratic opponent. The discussion illuminates the real economic and healthcare challenges facing the district’s predominantly Latino, working-class population, while also reflecting on broader Democratic missteps in recent cycles. Garcia pitches a unified, practical approach, leaning on local pride—and, yes, a good-natured sports rivalry.

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Transcript

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[Tim Miller]

Hey everybody. Tim Miller from the Bulwark here wanted to bring in a Democrat running to represent Texas 35, which is in San Antonio. We're going to save the spurs talk for the end. And there he is in a runoff election coming up here on May 26. And his district is one of the ones that was redrawn in this mid cycle, Jerry Manner to try to favor Trump. But that's one we think might backfire on them. The candidate is Johnny Garcia. How you doing, Johnny?

[Johnny Garcia]

I'm good. Thanks for having me on. And you're right. Go spurs, go.

[Tim Miller]

Okay, we'll do it at the end. I'm, I'm a Nuggets person. I'm better, I'm better. We'll save it for the end. Why don't you just, I want to get into the dynamics of the race and why I want to talk to you. But first maybe just give everybody a quick like kind of first date background. Like what's your story?

[Johnny Garcia]

Yeah, born and raised here in San Antonio, Texas. Graduated from Memorial High School on the west side. Worked construction and plumbing after graduating high school and while working my way through community college. And then I needed to keep the lights on and keep the bills paid and I joined the sheriff's office here where I worked in the jail, learned how to treat people regardless of their situation and circumstances. And that's where I learned some of my core communication skills in law enforcement and just understood how important it was to learn how to de escalate situations the right way. And then I moved out to patrol, served on the SWAT team as a hostage negotiator. And that's where I was really able to see what it was like to de escalate situations when they turned south Rather quickly from there, I joined the Sheriff's administration, where I've now served as a spokesperson for the agency for the last eight years, where I've gotten to see what it's like to truly hold yourself accountable, hold an agency accountable, and communicate when you get things wrong, but also when you get things, when you handle things the right way and you communicate that transparently with your community and you earn that trust and you continue to build that trust Here in this race, we've gotten to see how our community is really struggling with the everyday costs, as I'm sure you're seeing it as well across the nation, people that just want to go to H E B and buy their groceries and, and be able to pay their bills here in south Central Texas. And every day it seems like it's getting harder, especially with the increase of gas prices. And it's just why it's so important that we win this race so we can make life more affordable for everyday Texans.

[Tim Miller]

Look, man, I really appreciate what you're laying out. I had Bobby Polito on a couple months ago now, who's also running for Congress down in that neck of the wood, kids, you know, kind of singing from the same hymn book. There are a couple reasons why I wanted to focus on this race. Like first, as mentioned, this is like right in the heart of their effort to rig these elections and to gerrymander and to try to make things easier for Donald Trump. It's also right in the heart of kind of this big change in dynamic, which is the Latino vote, particularly working class Latinos, you know, who moved towards Trump in 2024 and at least the polls are indicating now maybe are starting to back, back away from him. And then there's all. They're also doing some rat in your race I want to talk about too. But, but before we get to that, like, why don't you just kind of talk about like what you're seeing on there in that dynamic and, and with, you know, members of your community that, that did vote for Trump at higher rates than maybe they had in the past. And, and whether you're seeing any regrets or how you're kind of communicating with those voters.

[Johnny Garcia]

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on that one. Look, I don't say voters remorse anymore because we're seeing voters regrets in this district. We were just in Highland Hills a couple of weeks ago for a forum and that was a group of Republicans and Democrats in that audience. After we get finished speaking, I step off to the side of the stage and a woman comes up and approaches me and she says, gosh, everything that you said, I fully align with, not knowing what party she voted with. And I said, well, thank you very much, ma'. Am. I'd love to have your support and vote here in this runoff. And she says, I'm sorry, I can't vote for you in the runoff. I'm a Republican. And I said, okay, well, look, I'd love to have your trust and support as we head into the general election. And she says, absolutely. And she was frustrated with the increase of costs that we're seeing. This administration just doing absolutely nothing for everyday Texans. We saw how people left our party in droves when, you know, the Biden administration got it wrong on the border. People wanted a strong border. People wanted border security in this district. They wanted to feel safe in their homes. But they didn't ask for ICE agents to be attacking construction sites or panaderias school pickup lines. Those are the things that, that this community didn't want. And it's why you're seeing it reflect in accordance with Trump's approval ratings, how they're just well below as what we would ever think of. And Latinos in this district are starting to realize how harder it is to make it to Sunday to buy their barabacoa. And Big Red people just want to be able to make it by with the wages that they're bringing home, be able to pay their bills and be able to put gas in their vehicles. And it seems like every day it's becoming harder and harder for South Texans to make it by.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah.

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Quints.com bulwarktix so the aforementioned troublemaking that these Republicans are doing, as you mentioned, you're in this runoff still. So it's still an intra Democratic contest. Right now you have an opponent, Maureen Galindo. She hasn't demonstrated a ton of local support, just to be frank. She has not raised very much money. It's kind of like a gadfly candidacy. And she said some things that are a little bit crazy. And she talked about how Jews are working with Christian Zionists to bring about the Rapture. A lot of focus on Jews in her and her commentary and what the Republicans are doing. The Republicans who like claim to care about anti Semitism and cracking down on anti Semitic speech, they're putting in a bunch of money on ads to support her, to prop her up because I think she'll be an easier opponent because she hasn't demonstrated a campaign of her own really. So they've got ads coming in. They're pretending like they're being Democrats. Like it's, it's, the group is called Lead Left pac. But yeah, it's, it's Republicans doing the fundraising and it's a Republican group that's behind it. See this Republican group coming into the district misrepresenting themselves, trying to knock you out because they're worried that you could actually win this district, that they tried to gerrymander. And that's basically the state of play, right?

[Johnny Garcia]

Absolutely. Look, I stepped into this race as a pissed off Democrat deputy sheriff to say I'm not going to let this gerrymander happen on my watch. I'm not going to let it succeed on my watch. And we've seen in this district folks move back over to our party. We've seen the lines shift back from what they thought was an easy pickup here in this state, now starting to trend very favorably for a Democrat. But from the onset, my mission has been to strengthen and unify and broaden our coalition in this party. When my opponent decides to call the progressive chair, Congressman Greg Cassar, a Zionist, it makes no sense. When she decides to focus on conspiracy theories and anti Semitic remarks rather than focus on the everyday issues that are impacting families, it's divisive and it's vile and it has no place in our Democratic Party. When she decides to attack Latinos, it's hurtful to us, especially in a district that is majority Latino. We need to be unifying our party. We need to be bringing people together. And that's been my focus. They thought that this gerrymander was something that was going to be an easy win for them, but in reality it's a dummy mander. And I've been very strong with my belief that we have the ability to win this race. And with that you get to see this, this Republican PAC spending now upwards of $340,000 to help uplift a weaker opponent in efforts that they'll see her get through this runoff to ultimately defeat her in, in November. But now more than ever, we're seeing our community come together. We're receiving strong endorsements, you know, from Pete Buttigieg, from Congressman Greg Cassar, Congressman Doggett, Wendy Davis. Strong voices here in our community here in Texas that are rallying behind the candidate that ultimately is going to win in November. And I know very well that the Republican Party and this PAC is scared for us to make it out so we can make sure that this gerrymander backfires on them.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah. As they're spending six figures on a random congressional race in Texas, no offense, you know, that A, they're scared about the general election and B, that they, that you, they're worried you're the stronger candidate. So I, I, that's why I really wanted to talk about this because you can't let them get away with it. You know, I think it's important that, like, that it's, that a light is shown on what they're trying to do to try to, you know, create trouble in this Democratic primary.

[Johnny Garcia]

Absolutely. Look, our, our community is hurting. I, I got pulled to the side the other day when we were at a forum in Oakville Farms here in, in this district. And the gentleman said, Johnny, we, when the Affordable Care act lapsed, I was paying $75 for my COPD medication that I was using to fight cancer. And when that subsidies lapsed, when they lapsed, I went from paying $75 to $200 for that medication alone. He said I had to discontinue it, I'm paying $700 a month already for medications and then I'd be paying $900. He says, I, I had to stop it. These are the stories that we're hearing, stories just like my sister, she went from paying $100 on her health care insurance to $200 a paycheck. Single mothers don't have the luxury to be forking out the failures of our Congress and those that are actually putting America first. And it's why it's so important that we win this race here in this district.

[Tim Miller]

I think that we have to also acknowledge there's some accountability for the Democrats about how they lost voters across the country losing the election. But like most acutely working class Latino voters in your district, there was like a big drop. And so there has to be some reflection on that. Like when you look at that, like at what the Democratic Party did between say 2016 and 2024, like, is there something in particular you think they really got wrong?

[Johnny Garcia]

Yeah. And, and I'll tell you a little story that I spoke with a constable in Carnes county, which is a very deep red county here in Texas in this district. We were a part of a parade back in December, the Christmas Lights Parade in Carnes County, Texas. And I'm introducing myself to folks along the parade route and I'm like, let me go up to this constable, he's a cop, I'm a cop. Knowing very well he's probably a Republican. Introduced myself to him. I let him know, hey, I'm a deputy sheriff in Bexar county, but I'm running for, for Congress here in your district. We shook hands and we parted ways. He comes back after and he wanted to have a full on debate on the side of this parade route. My issues on abortion, why is our attorney prosecuting all these cops, et cetera, et cetera, not knowing that he was debating a hostage negotiator. And what normal people call the awkward silence in negotiations, we call it an effective pause. And after hitting him on all his talking points, I let that effective pause sit in and I turned over to him and I said, hey, when we're in law enforcement and we respond to calls for service, we don't ask dispatch whether that home we're headed to is Democratic or Republican. And he just cut me off and he said, you're right, we just respond. And he said, well, damn, look at you sounding like a Democrat. And he's like, I ain't no damn Democrat, man. I'm MAGA all the way through. And I said, turned over to the ladies that we were in the parade with. And I said, folks, I think we got one. I said, if I know my people in law enforcement better than anybody else, I know that we're convincible. And it's this message that is resonating very well with Democrats, Independents and Republicans, like that Republican I met in, in Highland Hills. People that are resonating with our message. People that just want to be put first before political agendas. And it's why we're seeing this shift of people that we lost in 2024, people that are ready to say where we got things wrong and admit our faults, but work for progressive solution to make sure that we're all having a fair shot at the American dream. And that's why I'm so focused on winning this race.

[Tim Miller]

All right, the race is again, it's in Texas 35. You know anybody out there? San Antonio county, parts of San Antonio county and surrounding areas. It's not fucking fair that you guys, that the San Antonio spurs, after all of this, after all of this luck, you know, you have David Robinson, you win the lottery, you get Tim Duncan, you fast forward, you get this generational talent, Victor Voem Benyama and I have to watch this series, these playoffs and you have like two 20 year olds who are in the. Picked in the top four, who are unbelievable. You're going to be amazing for 15 more years. Can't spread the love. Isn't that the Democratic. You know, isn't. What, what about a little bit more, you know, being a little more egalitarian, letting people in other cities have good basketball teams for once?

[Johnny Garcia]

I mean, Tim, look, you, you just mentioned it. Accountability. We got to call some accountability on our Denver Nuggets. All right, look, fair is where pigs go to win a ribbon. The NBA doesn't issue ribbons. All right, here, look, man, I say in this district, we got the best honking street in all of Bexar County. If you're unfamiliar with it here in Bear county. In this district, when the spurs win a game, we lose our minds and we go honking. That. That's the way we celebrate here. Yeah, look, Wemby is a generational talent. I'm thankful to the NBA gods that he, he fell here in, in our city and with our team we play tonight, we gotta get this win so we could head into OKC and knock that one out and then bring it.

[Tim Miller]

I'll be rooting for you against okc, but I'm just not happy about it. I just steph Castle's amazing. Derek Harper is unbelievable, I guess. Unbelievable. He's just been so amazing in the series against Minnesota. So, yeah, plenty of accountability for Denver. I appreciate it. If you make it through, good luck against Oklahoma City. But I don't. I don't have to be happy about it. Okay. I don't have to be happy about it. That's Johnny Garcia once again. That runoff election is May 26th. Then if he gets through it, it's going to be a really important House election this fall. So why don't you give them your web, your website? People want to check out more about the campaign.

[Johnny Garcia]

Look, absolutely. Like I mentioned earlier, we got this Republican pack spending against us because they're clearly threatened. So we need everybody to help chip in. You can visit our website to do so. Vote johnnygarcia.com that's V O T E J O H N N Y G-A-R C I A dot com. We need your help to make sure that we win this race so we can ultimately win back our House majority.

[Tim Miller]

All right. I appreciate you, brother. Thanks for taking the time. We'll keep an eye on the race. All right.

[Johnny Garcia]

Appreciate you.

[Tim Miller]

All right. Bye. Bye.