Sylvia Garcia

Early life and education

Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia was born in San Diego, Texas, 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. Her family are Mexican Americans.

After graduating from Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco High School,

Early political career

City of Houston

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

In 1998, Garcia became Houston city controller.

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. 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.

In 2010, Garcia was defeated for reelection to the Harris County Commissioner's Court by Republican Jack Morman.

Texas Senate

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

Garcia took the oath of office for state senator on March 11, 2013. She served on the Criminal Justice, Intergovernmental Relations, Natural Resources and Economic Development, and Transportation committees. Garcia ran unopposed in the 2016 general election. She resigned after winning election to the U.S. House effective November 9, 2018.{{cite web |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/general/Garcia_Sylvia_resignation_letter.pdf

U. S. House of Representatives

Elections

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 behind City Councilman Ben Reyes and State Senator Gene Green. Green won the runoff and held the seat for 26 years.

2018

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#District 29

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 it was taken for granted that whoever won the primary would be overwhelmingly favored in November. Garcia got a significant boost when Green endorsed her, saying, "she's a legislator, and that's what a member of Congress should be." She won the primary with 63% of the vote. Her Republican opponent, Phillip Aronoff, used sexual harassment and wrongful termination allegations against Garcia. Garcia handily won the November 6 general election. She and Veronica Escobar became the first Latina congresswomen from Texas, and Garcia is the first woman to represent the district. Garcia is also the first Hispanic to represent a significant portion of Houston in Congress.

2020

Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#District 29

Garcia won reelection in 2020, defeating Republican Jaimy Blanco.

Tenure

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

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

• Black Maternal Health Caucus{{cite web|title=Caucus Members
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Congressional Homelessness Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus
• Congressional Mental Health Caucus
• Congressional Social Work Caucus
• Congressional Diabetes Caucus
• Adoption Caucus
• Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption
• Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment

Electoral history

Positions

Garcia voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

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. She voted for it in 2019.

Disaster relief

In 2024, Garcia publicly asked CenterPoint Energy why more than 1 million Houston residents were without power following the impact of Hurricane Beryl.

Immigration

Garcia sponsored the American Dream and Promise Act.

Personal life

Garcia is Roman Catholic.

References

References

1. "Schedule a for ALL Line #'s".
2. "GARCIA, Sylvia - Biographical Information".
3. José Angel Gutiérrez. [https://library.uta.edu/tejanovoices/xml/CMAS_145.xml Oral History Interview with Sylvia García, 1999] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-12-21)
4. Guadalupe, Patricia. (2019-03-06). "Rep. Sylvia García is honored with the Edward Roybal Award for Public Service".
5. "Senator Sylvia Garcia: District 6". Texas State Senate.
6. "History in the making in this year's election". University of Houston–Clear Lake.
7. "TMSL Alumni". Texas Southern University.
8. "Texas State Directory". Texas State Directory.
9. "Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia loses seat to political newcomer". KHOU.
10. "Sylvia Garcia Defeats Alvarado in Senate Runoff". News 92 FM.
11. "Sylvia Garcia, newest state senator, sworn in". KXAN.
12. "Texas Senators". State of Texas.
13. "Texas 6th District State Senate Results: Sylvia Garcia Wins". The New York Times.
14. "1992 congressional primary".
15. Shay, Miya. (2018-03-06). "Senator Garcia expected to take Congressman Gene Green's seat in Congress". [[KTRK-TV]].
16. "2018 congressional primary".
17. "Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Sen. Sylvia Garcia - Full Video Release". Aronoff for Congress.
18. "Veronica Escobar is closer to making House history in Texas". Elpasotimes.com.
19. (March 12, 2018). "Veronica Escobar on path to make Latina, Texas history after Congress primary victory". khou.com.
20. Wilkie, Christina. (2020-01-15). "Pelosi taps Schiff, Nadler and 5 others as Trump impeachment managers".
21. "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
22. "About the CEC". CEC.
23. "Caucus Members".
24. (19 August 2021). "Caucus Members".
25. (23 July 2019). "Congressional HBCU Caucus Gets Five New Members".
26. "CCA Institute".
27. "Membership". Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment.
28. "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State.
29. "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State.
30. (January 7, 2025). "Official Canvass Report 2024 NOVEMBER 5TH GENERAL ELECTION November 05, 2024". [[Texas Secretary of State]].
31. Bycoffe, Aaron. (2021-04-22). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?".
32. (May 17, 2019). "House Debate on the Equality Act". [[C-SPAN]].
33. "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 217".
34. Gordon, Maggie. (2024-07-10). "U.S. Rep. Garcia to CenterPoint: 'Why do we have to go through this every time we have an event?'".
35. Rep. Garcia, Sylvia R.. (2025-02-27). "Titles - H.R.1589 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): American Dream and Promise Act of 2025".
36. (2023-01-03). "Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress". [[Pew Research Center]].