Neither candidate wins nod in GOP runoff

One has no campaign; other thinks Jan. 6 was staged.

The chances of a Republican candidate winning in the 29th Congressional District are slim.

The majority-Latino district, which encompasses South Houston and Pasadena and snakes around the outer rim of northeast Harris County into Aldine, is represented by Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a two-term incumbent and former state lawmaker.

Garcia has a massive fundraising advantage, with $526,578 on hand. By contrast, the two Republican candidates vying in the runoff to challenge Garcia, Julio Garza and Robert Schafranek, appear to not even be trying to raise money. Garza has $593 on hand, while Schafranek has not reported any fundraising totals.

That massive gap in resources will make it tough for either of the GOP candidates to build the necessary crossparty appeal to pick off Democratic and independent voters to compete with Garcia.

We spoke with Garza and believe his staunch patriotism and compelling personal background as a second-generation immigrant success story will be appealing to many voters. But we can’t recommend him. He told us that President Biden is not the legitimate president — a view that all by itself triggers questions about his judgment — and that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was “staged.”

A candidate who truly believes these falsehoods has proven him or herself easily fooled. A candidate who sees through that dangerous myth but repeats it anyway for campaign advantage has shown he or she can’t be trusted with this or any elected office.

Garza, 53, was born in San Antonio. He’s an entrepreneur and licensed health insurance agent. His family moved to Houston when he was young and he grew up in Second Ward, where he helped his family run multiple businesses, including a bakery, restaurant, bar, and night club.

He describes himself as a man of faith, steadfastly pro-life, and says he believes voters will appreciate his work ethic. If he’s elected, he’ll make it a priority to fund the construction of border fencing.

“Either by a border wall or some kind of additional protection,” Garza told the editorial board. “The way things are right now, everyone and their grandmother is walking across and we don’t know who they are.”

As for Schafranek, a perennial candidate who got nearly 40 percent of the vote in the March 1 primary, we can’t recommend him, either. He’s raised no money, has no campaign website and has not returned our calls.

This is the second time Garza and Schafranek, 64, have faced off for the GOP nomination in the 29th District. Garza defeated Schafranek by 19 points in 2016 before losing to the incumbent Democrat Gene Green. Schafranek also ran for Congress in the 29th District unsuccessfully in 2018 and 2020.