Texas Dem who called for Zionists to be imprisoned, castrated loses primary

Sex therapist Maureen Galindo lost her bid to be the Democratic nominee in the primary runoff on Tuesday for Texas’s 35th Congressional district after she was denounced by leaders of her own party for making incendiary comments about Jews.

The Associated Press called the race for Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy, after polls closed. At press time, Garcia had about 62% of the vote to Galindo’s 38% with 74% of votes counted.

The race to represent the 35th district, which includes parts of San Antonio and is expected to favor the Republican nominee after redistricting in 2025, drew national attention over Galindo’s history of social media posts about Zionists and Jews and questions about fundraising on her behalf from a shadowy political action committee with possible Republican ties.

“She’ll turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking,” a post from her campaign social media page states.

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

After drawing scrutiny from across the Democratic party, including from staunch critics of Israel, Galindo denied that her posts were about Jews while continuing to say that she wanted to imprison “billionaire American Zionists who are funding the genocidal prison systems.”

“If they committed a crime, do they not belong in prison?” she said in a video on Friday.

Pro-Israel Democrats lauded Garcia’s victory on Tuesday and condemned the political action committee that backed Galindo, which they allege was a Republican operation to support the weaker candidate.

“Republicans just spent weeks and almost a million dollars propping up an antisemite, and they should be ashamed and embarrassed—it was a disgrace,” stated Brian Romick, president of Democratic Majority for Israel. “Tonight is a victory for the voters of Texas’s 35th Congressional District, for the Democratic Party and for every Democrat who believes that antisemitism has no home in our coalition.”

Garcia’s victory in the runoff means that he will face off against Carlos De La Cruz, a U.S. Air Force veteran who won the Republican primary runoff on Tuesday after receiving endorsements from U.S. President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abott, a Republican.

Trump’s endorsement also helped carry the night for former Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who soundly defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary to represent Texas in the Senate.

The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton in impeachment proceedings in 2023 after he was accused of bribery and abuse of office. Paxton is also going through a divorce in which his estranged wife accused him of adultery.

Despite his controversial record, Paxton won 64% of the vote to Cornyn’s 36%, with 94% of votes counted at press time.

Paxton will now face off in the general election against James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, who has accused Paxton of being “morally unfit for office.”

In his victory speech on Tuesday, Paxton said that Talarico was too left-wing for the traditionally deep-red Lonestar State.

“My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated,” Paxton said. “He’s a vegan who thinks God is non-binary, and that there’s actually six biological sexes. It’s hard to imagine someone more radical than that.”