Democrats Crush Antisemitic Candidate Maureen Galindo in Texas Runoff - But Her 36% Shows a Party Still Divided

The Democratic Party won the battle Tuesday night. Whether it's winning the war over antisemitism in its own ranks is a much harder question.

Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County sheriff's deputy and former SWAT negotiator, defeated Maureen Galindo in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas's 35th Congressional District, winning approximately 63.8% to Galindo's 36.2% - a margin of roughly 5,500 votes. The result was a decisive rejection of a candidate who had become, in the final weeks of the race, a national embarrassment for the Democratic Party.

But that 36% is the number that will keep party officials up at night.

What Galindo Actually Said

Galindo, a sex therapist and housing advocate with no prior political experience who nonetheless finished first in the March primary with 29% of the vote, made a series of statements in the runoff's final stretch that drew condemnation from across the political spectrum.

In a May Instagram post, she wrote that she would introduce legislation to convert the Karnes County ICE detention center into what she described as "a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking" and a "castration processing center for pedophiles which will probably be most of the Zionists." She repeatedly invoked "Zionist billionaires," accused Jewish leadership of controlling media, banking, and politics, and referenced the "Synagogue of Satan" - language drawn from centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy traditions.

Galindo consistently denied being antisemitic, insisting her targets were "Zionists" and "billionaire Zionists" rather than Jews as a whole, and accused opponents and media of deliberately misrepresenting her words.

Few found that distinction convincing.

The Party Mobilizes

National Democrats moved with unusual aggression to shut Galindo down. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries publicly condemned her remarks as "antisemitic and dangerous." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee actively backed Garcia and worked to drive turnout against Galindo. Jewish organizations and media outlets across the ideological spectrum added their voices.

The mobilization worked — Garcia won decisively. But the result also revealed the limits of top-down party pressure: even with the full institutional weight of the Democratic establishment arrayed against her, Galindo still drew more than a third of Democratic primary voters in a majority-Latino district.

The Republican Ghost in the Machine

The race had a strange subplot that Democrats found deeply unsettling. A mysterious super PAC with reported Republican ties spent over $900,000 boosting Galindo and attacking Garcia — prompting Democratic officials to accuse the GOP of deliberately trying to elevate a damaged, controversial nominee in a district that has already been redrawn to favor Republicans.

The strategy, if that's what it was, failed. But the willingness to spend nearly a million dollars propping up a fringe candidate underscores how seriously Republicans view their chances in Texas's 35th in November.

What Comes Next

Garcia now faces Trump-endorsed Republican Carlos De La Cruz in the November general election, in a district that was redrawn in 2025 specifically to make Democratic wins harder. The race was always going to be difficult. The weeks of national attention on Galindo's antisemitic remarks, and the lingering questions about what her support level says about the district's progressive base, have made Garcia's path no easier.

For the Democratic Party nationally, the Texas 35th runoff is being read as both a success and a warning. The establishment candidate won. The antisemitic candidate lost. But 36% of Democratic primary voters chose her anyway, and that, party officials privately acknowledge, is not a number that goes away simply because the primary is over.

Final certified results are expected in the coming days. The general election in Texas's 35th District is scheduled for November 2026.