Pete Buttigieg is headed to San Antonio this weekend to campaign for two Texas Democrats running in some of the most closely watched congressional races of the 2026 midterms. The former U.S. Secretary of Transportation will headline a rally supporting Johnny Garcia, a former Bexar County sheriff's deputy running in Texas's 35th Congressional District, and Katy Padilla Stout, a former public school teacher challenging Republican Brandon Herrera in Texas's 23rd Congressional District. The event is scheduled for Sunday, September 20, from 5 to 7 p.m.
According to the San Antonio Current, Buttigieg has reemerged as a force in Democratic politics since his failed 2020 presidential campaign, traveling the country to support progressive candidates and causes through his Win the Era PAC. He has endorsed more than 50 candidates running in this year's midterms, and Sunday's stop puts him back in San Antonio, where he has endorsed Padilla Stout, per the San Antonio Report.
Buttigieg said he is proud to support Garcia and Padilla Stout, framing their campaigns in sweeping terms. “Voters in these districts have the chance to send leaders to Congress who will hold this administration accountable for their failures, work to lower healthcare costs, strengthen public schools, and build an economy where one job is enough,” he said, according to the same report. He added that the two candidates “will prove in November that there is no such thing as a permanently red district or state.”
Two Districts, Two Very Different Paths to the Ballot
The races reflect distinct political circumstances. TX-23 sat vacant after former Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned in April amid a House Ethics Committee investigation into an affair with an aide, a move that averted a scheduled expulsion vote, according to The Texas Tribune. Padilla Stout, who serves on the Bexar County Child Welfare Board and previously taught in Northside ISD, won a four-way Democratic primary to seek the seat.
Her opponent, Brandon Herrera, is a gun-rights activist and YouTuber. He secured the GOP nomination after losing to Gonzales by roughly 400 votes in 2024, per Wikipedia.
TX-35 tells a different story. The district was redrawn, according to the Tribune's earlier reporting. Garcia, who spent nearly two decades with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office as a deputy, SWAT hostage negotiator and public information officer, was raised on San Antonio's West Side by a single mother before winning the Democratic primary runoff in May, per the San Antonio Report.
A Statistically Tied Race Draws National Money
His Republican opponent, Carlos De La Cruz, is an Air Force veteran and Republican candidate.
Democrats say the redrawn seat remains winnable even after redistricting reshaped it in the GOP's favor.
Both parties have already sent heavyweight surrogates through San Antonio this cycle. House Speaker Mike Johnson urged Gonzales to leave the race, as Hoodline previously reported. Beto O'Rourke joined Padilla Stout and Garcia at a San Antonio rally organized by his Powered by People group to warn voters about potential midterm voting hurdles.
Affordability and Public Safety Take Center Stage
Sunday's rally will center on what Buttigieg, Garcia and Padilla Stout describe as Texas's growing affordability crisis, including rising healthcare costs, along with public safety.
Padilla Stout and Garcia are running in districts Democrats believe could flip blue this cycle, and both candidates carry campaign biographies built around public service rather than career politics. Herrera, one of their opponents, has direct backing from Johnson, underscoring how nationalized the fight over these two San Antonio-area seats has become. People interested in attending Sunday's rally can RSVP online to receive the event address.
