Texas Dem who said she's 'against Zionist Jews,' called to 'put them into a prison,' loses House runoff

Texas Democratic congressional candidate Johnny Garcia defeated far-left activist Maureen Galindo in Tuesday night’s runoff election for the state’s 35th Congressional District, ending her campaign featuring repeated antisemitic social media posts. Galindo lost to Garcia by nearly 30 points.

Garcia, a former hostage negotiator and public information officer for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, had faced mounting attacks from Galindo throughout the campaign, including accusations that he supported putting “Jews and Mexicans in warehouses” because of his support for immigration enforcement. Galindo preferred the idea of putting Jews in warehouses.

Galindo, a sex therapist and housing activist, drew national condemnation in recent weeks after a series of social media posts targeting Jews, Zionists, Israel, ICE, and law enforcement. In one Instagram post, Galindo said she would turn the Karnes ICE Detention Center “into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.”

“It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists,” she wrote.

She also said that “Zionist Jews own our media, our banks, and all of our politicians,” while claiming that she was “not antisemitic,” during an appearance on Texas Public Radio. “I’m against Zionist Jews,” Galindo said.

In other posts, she alleged that Israel effectively controlled ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, called Flock safety cameras that use coordinated surveillance to track and apprehend criminals “Israeli spyware,” and described “Zionist Jews” as “genocidal European colonizer freaks.”

Galindo also suggested Zionists were “not real Jews” and pushed conspiracy theories linking Israel to Jeffrey Epstein and global trafficking networks.

The rhetoric prompted backlash from prominent Democrats nationwide. “This antisemitic rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Texas State Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for US Senate, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. She also criticized Christian Zionists.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) also condemned the remarks, writing on X: “First current political candidate suggests concentration camps for American Jews. This should be national news!”

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) similarly said Galindo should never be allowed to hold public office.

Even Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has frequently been accused of promoting anti-Israel rhetoric, slammed Galindo, writing on X, "This is absolutely disgusting. This bigoted garbage and antisemitism should be nowhere near our politics."

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The New York Times editorial board had previously urged Democratic voters not to support Galindo in the runoff.