Democratic Candidate Criticized For Antisemitic Comments Loses House Primary

Maureen Galindo, a Democratic house candidate who got national attention after pledging to turn a former detention center into a “prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking,” lost the election on Tuesday.

With 99% of all votes tallied, opponent Johnny Garcia got almost 64% of the vote, compared to Galindo’s 36.2%. It was a reversal of the March primary, when Galindo ended above Garcia.

Democrats were quick to condemn Galindo after her remarks drew national attention. And PACs spent heavily to support Garcia. Politico detailed that Blue Dog Action PAC spent more than $1 million to boost him, including hundreds of thousands to counter Lead Left, a PAC they accused of being led by Republicans to support candidates they believe could have lower chances of winning a general election.

Galindo made headlines after saying she would the “Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.”

“It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists,” Galindo added.

A review of Galindo’s Instagram account shows numerous posts about “Zionists.” She has also said she would introduce legislation to have “all American candidates and elected officials who have ever taken Israeli money tried for treason.”

She has since attempted to clarify her position, telling Politico in an email last week that the detention center “was NEVER for Jewish Zionists — it’s for BILLIONAIRE Zionists, regardless of religion. If they’ve done business for genocidal prison state materials or there’s evidence of pedophilia from Epstein files, they should be brought to trial.”

However, she was widely condemned by many in the party. “This vile language by her is disqualifying and has no place in American politics, and certainly not in the Democratic Party,” Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington said in a statement released shortly after the remarks made national headlines.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X that Galindo’s rhetoric was”absolutely disgusting” and “bigoted garbage,” urging people to vote for Garcia.

Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Jared Moskowitz also said in a joint statement that if she ended up becoming a lawmaker, they would “force a vote to expel her every day she is here.”