Johnny Garcia declares victory in his May runoff against controversial opponent Maureen Galindo for the TX-35 Congressional seat. Credit: Stephanie Koithan

Riding high on good polling, Democratic candidate for Texas’ 35th Congressional District Johnny Garcia didn’t mince words about what he thought of the GOP’s redrawing last summer of the district he’s running to represent.

“They came in, they tried to redraw this district to favor Republicans, and they’re starting to see that their gerrymander turned into a dummy-mander,” Garcia told the Current.

The comments from the former Bexar County Sheriff’s Department public information officer came during a rally of progressives near UT San Antonio on Wednesday. Garcia’s remarks also came days after recent polling from the left-leaning House Majority PAC reported Garcia in a virtual tie with his Republican opponent, Carlos De La Cruz.

Garcia said he isn’t surprised by the polling, which puts him at 45% to De La Cruz’s 44%. In the end, he said the TX-35 race comes down to affordability.

“We’re seeing Latinos that are fed up and frustrated,” Garcia said. “I’ve been saying it all along, folks just want to be able to make it to Sunday to buy their barbacoa and Big Red, and Republicans forgot that they redrew it as a Latino majority district.”

Indeed, nonpartisan elections analysis publication Inside Elections shifted its forecast Thursday from Likely Republican to Lean Republican.

“The 35th was redrawn to elect a Republican, but a rebound for Democrats among Latino voters and strong top-of-ticket campaigns … are keeping Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in the hunt against Republican Carlos De La Cruz.”

San Antonio-area residents can check the status of the voter registrations by visiting the Bexar County Elections Department’s website or by logging on to votetexas.gov.

Election Day is Nov. 3.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...