Sylvia Garcia

Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia[2] (born September 6, 1950) is an American politician who has been serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 29th congressional district since 2019. Her district covers much of eastern Houston. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented District 6 in the Texas Senate.

Sylvia Garcia
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 29th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Gene Green
Member of the Texas Senate from the 6th district
In office March 11, 2013 – November 9, 2018[1]
Preceded by	Mario Gallegos Jr.
Succeeded by	Carol Alvarado
Harris County Commissioner from Precinct 2
In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2011
Preceded by	Jim Fontento
Succeeded by	Jack Morman
12th City Controller of Houston
In office January 2, 1998 – January 1, 2003
Preceded by	Lloyd Kelly
Succeeded by	Judy Gray Johnson
Personal details
Born	Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia September 6, 1950 San Diego, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Texas Woman's University (BA) Texas Southern University (JD)
Website	House website

Early life and education

Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia was born in San Diego, Texas[3] and raised in Palito Blanco in west central Jim Wells County, the daughter of Luis and Antonia Rodriguez Garcia. She is the eighth of ten children.[4] Her family are Mexican Americans.[5]

After graduating from Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco High School,[3] Garcia attended Texas Woman's University on a scholarship. She graduated with a degree in social work. After completing her studies, she began her career as a social worker. She later received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law.[6]

Early political career

City of Houston

In the early 1980s, Houston Mayor Kathryn Whitmire appointed Garcia as presiding judge of the Houston Municipal System.[7] She served for an unprecedented five terms under two mayors.[8]

In 1998, Garcia became Houston city controller.[9]

Harris County

Garcia was elected to the Harris County Commissioner's Court in 2002. She was the first woman and first Latina elected to that post in her own right.[6] Her precinct featured a major base of operations for NASA, the nation's largest petrochemical complex, the Houston Ship Channel and the Port of Houston, the sixth largest port in the world.[9]

Garcia was defeated for reelection to the Harris County Commissioner's Court in 2010 by Republican Jack Morman.[10]

Texas Senate

In 2013, Garcia defeated State Representative Carol Alvarado in a special election runoff to replace the late state Senator Mario Gallegos.[11]

Garcia took the oath of office for state senator on March 11, 2013.[12] She served on the Criminal Justice, Intergovernmental Relations, Natural Resources and Economic Development, and Transportation committees.[13] Garcia ran unopposed in the 2016 general election.[14]

U. S. House of Representatives

1992

While still serving as a municipal judge, Garcia ran in the Democratic primary for the newly created 29th congressional seat in 1992. She finished third in the five-way primary–the real contest in this heavily Democratic, Latino-majority district– behind City Councilman Ben Reyes and State Senator Gene Green.[15] Green went on to win the runoff, and would hold the seat for 26 years.

2018

Green announced his retirement in November 2017, and Garcia–who by then held the state senate seat Green once held–entered a crowded seven-way Democratic primary. The district was still a Democratic stronghold, and whoever won the primary would be an overwhelming favorite in November. Garcia got a significant boost when Green endorsed her as his successor, saying that "she's a legislator, and that's what a member of Congress should be."[16] She easily won the primary with 63 percent of the vote.[17] Her Republican opponent, Phillip Aronoff, used the sexual harassment and wrongful termination allegations against Garcia.[18] Garcia handily won the November 6, 2018 general election. She and Veronica Escobar became the first Latina congresswomen from Texas, also Garcia is the first woman to represent the district.[19][20] As well, Garcia is the first Hispanic to represent a significant portion of Houston in Congress.

2020

Garcia won reelection in 2020.

Tenure

On January 15, 2020, Garcia was selected as one of seven impeachment managers who presented the impeachment case against President Donald Trump during his trial before the United States Senate.[21]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus

Electoral history

Democratic primary results[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sylvia Garcia	11,659	63.2
	Democratic	Tahir Javed	3,817	20.7
	Democratic	Roel Garcia	1,217	6.6
	Democratic	Hector Morales	562	3.0
	Democratic	Augustine H. Reyes	524	2.8
	Democratic	Dominique Michelle Garcia	472	2.6
	Democratic	Pedro Valencia	192	1.1
Total votes			18,443	100.0

Texas's 29th congressional district, 2018[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sylvia Garcia	88,188	75.1
	Republican	Phillip Aronoff	28,098	23.9
	Libertarian	Cullen Burns	1,199	1.0
	Independent	Johnathan Garza (write-in)	9	0.0
Total votes			117,494	100.0
	Democratic hold

Texas's 29th congressional district, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sylvia Garcia (incumbent)
	Republican	Jaimy Blanco
Total votes

Positions

LGBT rights

Garcia supports the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[24] She voted in favor of the bill in 2019.[25]

Accusation of misconduct

Days before the 2018 election, a video was posted on YouTube alleging that Garcia has been accused of sexual harassment and wrongful termination over events occurring in 1995.[26] Garcia refutes the claims.[27]

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
• Women in the United States House of Representatives

References

1. https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/general/Garcia_Sylvia_resignation_letter.pdf
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2019-06-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2019-06-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. José Angel Gutiérrez. Oral History Interview with Sylvia García, 1999 Archived 2018-12-21 at the Wayback Machine
5. Guadalupe, Patricia (2019-03-06). "Rep. Sylvia García is honored with the Edward Roybal Award for Public Service". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2019-08-14. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
6. "Senator Sylvia Garcia: District 6". Texas State Senate. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09.
7. "History in the making in this year's election". University of Houston–Clear Lake. Archived from the original on 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
8. "TMSL Alumni". Texas Southern University. Archived from the original on 2012-06-03.
9. "Texas State Directory". Texas State Directory. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
10. "Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia loses seat to political newcomer". KHOU. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08.
11. "Sylvia Garcia Defeats Alvarado in Senate Runoff". News 92 FM. Archived from the original on 2013-03-05.
12. "Sylvia Garcia, newest state senator, sworn in". KXAN. Archived from the original on 2013-03-14.
13. "Texas Senators". State of Texas. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
14. "Texas 6th District State Senate Results: Sylvia Garcia Wins". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
15. "1992 congressional primary". Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
16. Shay, Miya (2018-03-06). "Senator Garcia expected to take Congressman Gene Green's seat in Congress". KTRK-TV. Archived from the original on 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
17. "2018 congressional primary". Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
18. "Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Sen. Sylvia Garcia - Full Video Release". Aronoff for Congress. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
19. "Veronica Escobar is closer to making House history in Texas". Elpasotimes.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
20. "Veronica Escobar on path to make Latina, Texas history after Congress primary victory". khou.com. March 12, 2018. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
21. Wilkie, Christina (2020-01-15). "Pelosi taps Schiff, Nadler and 5 others as Trump impeachment managers". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
22. "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
23. "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
24. "House Debate on the Equality Act". C-SPAN. May 17, 2019. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
25. "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 217". Archived from the original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
26. UrbanosBennett (2018-11-02), Nora Soto Gutierrez vs. Sylvia R. Garcia, retrieved 2018-11-20
27. Tribune, The Texas; Walters, Alexa Ura, Morgan Smith, Jolie McCullough and Edgar (2017-11-14). "At the Texas Capitol, victims of sexual harassment must fend for themselves". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2019-01-27.

External links

• Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia official U.S. House website
• Sylvia Garcia for Congress campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN