Top House Democrats have condemned Maureen Galindo, a Texas Democratic candidate, after she posted inflammatory social media comments about converting an immigration detention facility into what she called a "prison for American Zionists."
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, who leads the House Democrats' campaign committee, released a statement Tuesday night calling the remarks "vile" and incompatible with the party's values. "This language has no place in American politics, and certainly not in the Democratic Party," they said.
Galindo, a therapist, won the most votes in the March primary for Texas' 35th Congressional District but advanced to a runoff against Johnny Garcia, a former Bexar County Sheriff's Office employee. She will face the Republican nominee this fall in a district that state GOP lawmakers engineered to favor their party.
The candidate's inflammatory posts surfaced last week when she wrote on Instagram about converting an ICE detention center "into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking." In the same message, she made claims about Zionists being "pedophiles." She did not respond to requests for comment.
Jeffries and DelBene also targeted what they characterized as Republican interference in the Democratic primary. They pointed to hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent by Lead Left PAC, a shadowy new organization backing Galindo despite her minimal personal fundraising efforts. The group has remained opaque about its funding sources, which is permissible under current campaign finance disclosure rules.
Recent reporting by Punchbowl News found that metadata linked the PAC's website to a GOP fundraising platform, fueling suspicions that Republicans are deliberately amplifying Galindo to make the fall general election easier for them. "To embrace and uplift a fringe candidate with antisemitic rhetoric to win an election is beyond the pale," the two House leaders stated. "MAGA extremists should be ashamed."
Lead Left PAC is a newly formed organization with minimal public presence that has begun funding primary challengers against establishment-preferred Democrats. Its backers have not been identified.
The runoff winner will face the Republican nominee, decided between Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz, who has Trump's backing, and state Rep. John Lujan, supported by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Galindo's comments drew rebukes from lawmakers across the political spectrum. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called the rhetoric "absolutely disgusting" and "bigoted garbage" while also condemning Republican involvement in her campaign. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., underscored what he saw as a double standard, noting that a comparable Republican candidate would face sustained national media scrutiny.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The toxic combination of extremist rhetoric and shadowy outside spending designed to game a Democratic primary exposes how both parties can end up with candidates nobody wanted in the first place."
Comments