Sylvia Garcia Explained

Sylvia Garcia
State:Texas
Term Start:January 3, 2019
Predecessor:Gene Green
State Senate1:Texas
District1:6th
Term Start1:March 11, 2013
Term End1:November 9, 2018[1]
Predecessor1:Mario Gallegos Jr.
Successor1:Carol Alvarado
Office2:Harris County Commissioner from Precinct 2
Term Start2:January 1, 2003
Term End2:January 1, 2011
Predecessor2:Jim Fontento
Successor2:Jack Morman
Office3:12th City Controller of Houston
Term Start3:January 2, 1998
Term End3:January 1, 2003
Predecessor3:Lloyd Kelly
Successor3:Judy Gray Johnson
Birth Name:Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia
Birth Date:6 September 1950
Birth Place:San Diego, Texas, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Education:Texas Woman's University (BA)
Texas Southern University (JD)

Sylvia Rodriguez Garcia[2] (born September 6, 1950) is an American lawyer and 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 the 6th district in the Texas Senate.

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, Garcia attended Texas Woman's University on a scholarship. She graduated with a degree in social work and began a career as a social worker. She later received her Juris Doctor degree from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law and was licensed to practice law in Texas.[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]

In 2010, Garcia was defeated for reelection to the Harris County Commissioner's Court 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

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.[15] Green won the runoff and held 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 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."[16] She won the primary with 63% of the vote.[17] Her Republican opponent, Phillip Aronoff, used sexual harassment and wrongful termination allegations against Garcia.[18] 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.[19] [20] Garcia is also the first Hispanic to represent a significant portion of Houston in Congress.

2020

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.[21]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Positions

Garcia voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.[26]

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.[27] She voted for it in 2019.[28]

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Garcia was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[29]

Personal life

Garcia is Roman Catholic.[30]

See also

External links

|-|-

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Resignation letter. texas.gov. January 30, 2024.
  2. Web site: Schedule a for ALL Line #'s . 2019-06-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190623040828/https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00575795/1056807/sa/ALL/7 . 2019-06-23 . live .
  3. Web site: GARCIA, Sylvia - Biographical Information . 2019-06-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190403174536/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000587 . 2019-04-03 . live .
  4. José Angel Gutiérrez. Oral History Interview with Sylvia García, 1999
  5. Web site: Rep. Sylvia García is honored with the Edward Roybal Award for Public Service. Guadalupe. Patricia. 2019-03-06. NBC News. en. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190814031428/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/rep-sylvia-garcia-honored-edward-roybal-award-public-service-n980271. 2019-08-14. 2020-01-24.
  6. Web site: Senator Sylvia Garcia: District 6. Texas State Senate. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130309074750/http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist6/dist6.htm. 2013-03-09.
  7. Web site: History in the making in this year's election. University of Houston–Clear Lake. 2013-03-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20130420110307/http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/USN/TheSignal/Editorial?articleId=836. 2013-04-20. live.
  8. Web site: TMSL Alumni. Texas Southern University. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120603114823/http://www.tsulaw.edu/alumni/legacy_archive/sylvia_garcia.html. 2012-06-03.
  9. Web site: Texas State Directory. Texas State Directory. 2013-03-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084448/http://www.txdirectory.com/online/person/?id=13573&office=13573. 2016-03-04. live.
  10. Web site: Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia loses seat to political newcomer. KHOU. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101208150846/http://www.khou.com/news/-Harris-County-Commissioner-Sylvia-Garcia-loses-seat-to-Republican-Jack-Morman-106593254.html. 2010-12-08.
  11. Web site: Sylvia Garcia Defeats Alvarado in Senate Runoff. News 92 FM. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130305033416/http://news92fm.com/332991/sylvia-garcia-defeats-alvarado-in-senate-runoff/. 2013-03-05.
  12. Web site: Sylvia Garcia, newest state senator, sworn in. KXAN. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130314103152/http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/texas_lege/sylvia-garcia-newest-state-senator-sworn-in. 2013-03-14.
  13. Web site: Texas Senators. State of Texas. 2017-04-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20170425114752/http://www.senate.state.tx.us/member.php?d=6. 2017-04-25. live.
  14. Web site: Texas 6th District State Senate Results: Sylvia Garcia Wins. The New York Times. 7 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170108094115/http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/texas-state-senate-district-6. 8 January 2017. live.
  15. Web site: 1992 congressional primary . 2018-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103645/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=222688 . 2018-03-08 . live .
  16. News: Senator Garcia expected to take Congressman Gene Green's seat in Congress. Shay. Miya. KTRK-TV. 2018-03-06. 2018-03-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307080303/http://abc13.com/politics/women-spoke-senator-garcia-will-likely-win-congressional-seat/3183977/. 2018-03-07. live.
  17. Web site: 2018 congressional primary . 2018-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103715/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=834334 . 2018-03-08 . live .
  18. News: Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Sen. Sylvia Garcia - Full Video Release. Aronoff for Congress. 2018-11-20.
  19. Web site: Veronica Escobar is closer to making House history in Texas . Elpasotimes.com . April 27, 2018.
  20. Web site: Veronica Escobar on path to make Latina, Texas history after Congress primary victory . khou.com . March 12, 2018 . April 27, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180428093513/https://www.khou.com/article/news/nation-now/veronica-escobar-on-path-to-make-latina-texas-history-after-congress-primary-victory/465-8a6dbb68-a6d8-4316-8bc4-46772b551371 . April 28, 2018 . live .
  21. Web site: Pelosi taps Schiff, Nadler and 5 others as Trump impeachment managers. Wilkie. Christina. 2020-01-15. CNBC. 2020-01-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20200115171458/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/pelosi-taps-schiff-nadler-as-trump-impeachment-managers.html. 2020-01-15. live.
  22. Web site: Caucus Members. 2021-03-29. Congressional Progressive Caucus. en.
  23. Web site: Caucus Members. Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. 19 August 2021 . en.
  24. Web site: Congressional HBCU Caucus Gets Five New Members. Congressional HBCU Caucus Gets Five New Members. 23 July 2019 . en.
  25. Web site: CCA Institute.
  26. Web site: Bycoffe . Aaron . Wiederkehr . Anna . 2021-04-22 . Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden? . 2023-11-15 . FiveThirtyEight . en.
  27. News: House Debate on the Equality Act . . May 17, 2019 . January 27, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190804153435/https://www.c-span.org/video/?460685-3%2Fhouse-debate-equality-act . August 4, 2019 . live .
  28. Web site: Final Vote Results for Roll Call 217 . 2019-05-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190517221515/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll217.xml . 2019-05-17 . live .
  29. Web site: Republicans and Democrats who bucked party leaders by voting no. Jared. Gans. May 31, 2023. June 6, 2023. The Hill.
  30. Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress . 2023-01-03 . . 2023-04-08.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sylvia Garcia".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.