History in the making
Garcia poised to become first Houston Latina in Congress
For the first time in its history, Houston is on the cusp of electing a Latina to Congress.
With final ballots still being counted in the Democratic primary for the 29th Congressional District seat, Sylvia Garcia held a commanding lead over Beaumont businessman Tahir Javed that was expected to hand her the party’s nomination without the need for a runoff. Javed conceded in a phone call to Garcia.
“This is not my victory,” Garcia told hundreds of supporters at her campaign headquarters in Houston’s East End. “This is all of our victory.”
Garcia pointed to President Donald Trump as a major reason motivating her supporters.
“This was for Latinos who for too long have sat on the political sidelines while the president sits in the White House blaming all of our problems on immigrants,” she said.
The heavily Democratic district was designed in 1992 to help elect a Latino to Congress but has been filled ever since by U.S. Rep. Gene Green, a Democrat who announced he is not seeking re-election.
Garcia will face the winner of the Republican primary in the November general election.
In that race, Phillip Aronoff, executive secretary for the Consular Corps of Houston, was holding a sizable lead with ballots still being counted but appeared headed to a runoff with Carmen Maria Montiel, a Venezuela native who has worked for Telemundo. Trailing were candidates Jaimy Z. Blanco, a rental agent and political activist, and Robert Schafranek, who ran for the seat in 2016.
With a packed field of seven candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, Garcia built her campaign around being a seasoned leader in the community and in politics who could hit the ground running on Capitol Hill in Washington.
“Experience matters,” Garcia said during the campaign. “Knowing about how government works matters. And know-
ing how to get things done matters.”
Garcia has a lengthy background in public service since 1998, when she was elected city controller. She then jumped to a county commissioner seat and now is in the state senate. Green helped boost her campaign, endorsing her early on in the race.
In December, some of Garcia’s biggest potential rivals took a pass on challenging her, seemingly paving the way for an easy victory.
But that changed in December when major Democratic party donor Javed jumped into the race and poured more than $1.2 million of his own money into the campaign. He told voters that his experience emigrating from Pakistan was much like theirs.
In his concession, he made clear he is going to continue to be involved in politics.
“I am here to stay,” Javed said. “We will continue to work to bring opportunity and positive change to our district.”
About 77 percent of the current 29th District is made up of people who list themselves as Hispanic with the U.S. Census. The district includes Houston’s East End, South Houston, Jacinto City, Galena Park and parts of Pasadena.
According to the census, Houston had just under 1 million Hispanic residents, third only to New York and Los Angeles, both of which have members of Congress who are Hispanic.
Besides Javed and Garcia, the race included elevator mechanic Augustine Reyes, attorney Roel Garcia, teacher Hector Morales, businessman Pedro Valencia and real estate agent Dominique Garcia.
On the campaign trail, Garcia has stressed her humble beginnings. She grew up poor as one of 10 children in Palito Blanco, 150 miles south of San Antonio. Garcia earned scholarships to attend Texas Woman's University in Denton and later earned a law degree from Texas Southern University.
Garcia said she wants to build off of the community work Green has done, noting his work to make immunizations more accessible, and hold citizenship workshops in the area. Green has endorsed Garcia in the race, and she also won support from EMILY’S List, the Texas AFL-CIO and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ BOLD PAC.
Garcia said she will advocate for a higher federal minimum wage and support efforts to protect people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“This race is about who knows the district,” Garcia said. “It’s about who has lived and breathed the issues that people care about here.”