But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Johnny Garcia
Democrat · U.S. House, Texas District 35
✗SupportsFrom money backing them
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
Garcia told Jewish Insider in March 2026: "We need to make sure our closest ally in the Middle East remains safe and has the ability to protect itself." Nothing located says which U.S. weapons or money he would send the government of Israel, or addresses U.S. aid to Palestinians.
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In a March 2026 interview with Jewish Insider, Garcia said "I firmly believe the actors of Hamas are a terrorist organization" and "We need to make sure our closest ally in the Middle East remains safe and has the ability to protect itself." He also said he supports "security grants for synagogues and Jewish schools". Neither remark names a weapons package, an amount or a condition.
During the runoff Galindo said AIPAC funded his campaign. He told Texas Public Radio he had taken no AIPAC money, calling her claims "baseless". When she said she would turn an immigration detention center into a "prison for American Zionists", he called her comments "conspiracy theories and hateful rhetoric", CBS News reported.
DMFI PAC, the political arm of Democratic Majority for Israel, which works to elect pro-Israel Democrats, endorsed him in February 2026. JStreetPAC also lists him as an endorsed candidate; it is the political action committee of the advocacy group J Street. His campaign's issues page calls for ending "the war in Iran" to lower gas prices and says nothing on Israel or Gaza. Nothing located has him addressing U.S. aid to Palestinians. Ask Garcia directly and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words.
The money
$166K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
DMFI: $165,937.55
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
DMFI PAC$165,937.55Democratic Majority for Israel's PAC; calls itself the home for pro-Israel Democrats and backs Democratic candidates who support a strong U.S. alliance with the government of Israel.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.
Endorsed by DMFI PAC
DMFI PACDemocratic Majority for Israel's PAC; calls itself the home for pro-Israel Democrats and backs Democratic candidates who support a strong U.S. alliance with the government of Israel.These endorsements come from groups that back sending U.S. weapons and funding to the government of Israel.
In their words
“We need to make sure our closest ally in the Middle East remains safe and has the ability to protect itself.”
Democratic Majority for Israel PAC (2026) · JStreetPAC (2026)
Research log
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel
[Position, 2026-03-18] Jewish Insider: "For his part, Garcia expressed strong support for Israel and its relationship with the United States last week." His words: "We need to make sure our closest ally in the Middle East remains safe and has the ability to protect itself." The article names no weapons package, amount or condition.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located, at any date.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2026-03-18] Jewish Insider, the same interview: "I firmly believe the actors of Hamas are a terrorist organization," he said. The two sentences are separated in the article by "he said" and are kept as two quotations.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, 2026-05-14] Texas Public Radio: "Garcia, who is a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy, said he hasn’t taken any money from AIPAC." His words, answering his runoff opponent's claim that AIPAC funded his campaign: "She's drawing these baseless claims from the group called AIPAC Tracker that put us on that website after receiving the endorsement of the Democratic Majority for Israel".
[Endorsement, 2026-02-19] DMFI PAC's first 2026 slate lists "Johnny Garcia, TX-35", with no description of him. DMFI PAC, the political arm of Democratic Majority for Israel, says it "works to elect pro-Israel Democrats". The Algemeiner reported the slate on 2026-02-20. DMFI's president, Brian Romick, told Jewish Insider in March: "DMFI PAC is proud to support him because if Democrats are going to win back the House, we need to support candidates like Johnny who can actually win in November." In May, per the Times of Israel, DMFI launched "a new six-figure ad campaign for Garcia", and Romick told Jewish Insider that "Johnny Garcia is a coalition builder who supports a strong US-Israel relationship and has been clear in standing against antisemitism". These are the group's words about him, not his.
[Endorsement, page published 2026-08-20] JStreetPAC's candidate page marks him "Endorsed" and "Priority" and describes him as "the Democratic nominee in Texas' 35th Congressional District". JStreetPAC is the political action committee of the advocacy group J Street.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
[Position, 2026-03-18] Jewish Insider: "I support security grants for synagogues and Jewish schools, with the ability to also monitor hateful rhetoric and antisemitism online and to streamline the response across law enforcement agencies," Garcia told JI. Of his runoff opponent: "Antisemitism is dangerous, and this country has enough divide as it is with what we’re seeing at the top by those in power".
[Position, 2026-05-16] The Times of Israel: on Texas Public Radio he condemned her for having made "antisemitic remarks"; his words: "These comments, it’s hurtful, and it does nothing good for our Democratic Party."
[Position, 2026-05-20] CBS News: Garcia called her pledge to turn a detention center into a "prison for American Zionists" "conspiracy theories and hateful rhetoric".
[Position, 2026-05-26] Texas Public Radio, on runoff night: "Once the community figured out what she stood for, to divide our communities, rather than focus on everyday issues affecting everyday Texans, I think the community clearly understood who the candidate was to ultimately represent not only our party, but our party's values," Garcia told TPR.
What the campaign site and own pages say
His campaign site, its Meet Johnny page and its issues page, read 2026-09-26. The issues page says "We must end the war in Iran so that we lower gas prices." None of the three mentions Israel, Gaza, Palestinians or AIPAC.
The race
He won the Democratic runoff on May 26, 2026 with 63.8% in the preliminary tally, and faces Republican Carlos De La Cruz, per Texas Public Radio. Ballotpedia's candidate page lists him on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot.
The same Jewish Insider article reports that he disagreed with how the Trump administration has prosecuted the war with Iran; that is not about what the United States sends the government of Israel.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
None.
Not on the card, and why
DMFI PAC's and its president's descriptions of him: the group's words, not his.
His runoff-night remarks and the Times of Israel report: context about his opponent's rhetoric.
The campaign-platform summary earlier research copied from search results (community safety and anti-extremism): not confirmed on his campaign pages; removed.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-texas-democrat-wont-campaign-with-candidate-who-wants-prison-for-american-zionists/; opened (rendered page; a plain request was refused); 2026-09-26
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps.
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