Annie Garcia

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Annie Garcia

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Rice University, 1999

Law

University of Texas School of Law, 2005

Personal

Birthplace

Rochester, Minn.

Profession

Attorney, Small Business Owner

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Annie Garcia (also known as Mama) ran for election for Mayor of Houston in Texas. She lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Annie Garcia was born in Rochester, Minnesota. She earned a bachelor's degree from Rice University in 1999 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2005. Garcia’s career experience includes practicing as an attorney and founding a nonprofit organization called OpHeart.

Elections

2023

See also: Mayoral election in Houston, Texas (2023)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Mayor of Houston

John Whitmire defeated Sheila Jackson Lee in the general runoff election for Mayor of Houston on December 9, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Whitmire (Nonpartisan)	64.4	129,809
		Sheila Jackson Lee (Nonpartisan)	35.6	71,719

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 201,528
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

General election for Mayor of Houston

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Houston on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Whitmire (Nonpartisan)	42.5	107,411
✔		Sheila Jackson Lee (Nonpartisan)	35.6	90,098
	Submit photo	Gilbert Garcia (Nonpartisan)	7.2	18,220
		Jack Christie (Nonpartisan)	6.9	17,364
		Lee Kaplan (Nonpartisan)	2.6	6,645
		Robert Gallegos (Nonpartisan)	1.1	2,680
	Submit photo	M.J. Khan (Nonpartisan)	1.0	2,478
		Annie Garcia (Nonpartisan)	0.8	1,972
		Julian Martinez (Nonpartisan)	0.7	1,813
		Roy Vasquez (Nonpartisan)	0.4	1,083
		M. Griffin (Nonpartisan)	0.3	674
		Kathy Lee Tatum (Nonpartisan)	0.2	532
	Submit photo	David Lowy (Nonpartisan)	0.1	368
	Submit photo	Chanel Mbala (Nonpartisan)	0.1	356
		Naoufal Houjami (Nonpartisan)	0.1	352
		Gaylon Caldwell (Nonpartisan)	0.1	331
	Submit photo	B. Ivy (Nonpartisan)	0.1	287
		Robin Williams (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	101

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 252,765
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Garcia in this election.

2020

See also: United States Senate election in Texas, 2020

United States Senate election in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

United States Senate election in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Texas

Incumbent John Cornyn defeated Mary Jennings Hegar, Kerry McKennon, David B. Collins, and Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla in the general election for U.S. Senate Texas on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Cornyn (R)	53.5	5,962,983
		Mary Jennings Hegar (D)	43.9	4,888,764
		Kerry McKennon (L)	1.9	209,722
		David B. Collins (G)	0.7	81,893
		Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	678

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,144,040
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Arjun Srinivasan (Independent)
• Cedric Jefferson (People Over Politics Party)
• James Brumley (The Human Rights Party)
• Tim Smith (Independent)

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate Texas

Mary Jennings Hegar defeated Royce West in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate Texas on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mary Jennings Hegar	52.2	502,516
		Royce West	47.8	459,457

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 961,973 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mary Jennings Hegar	22.3	417,160
✔		Royce West	14.7	274,074
		Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez	13.2	246,659
		Annie Garcia	10.3	191,900
		Amanda Edwards	10.1	189,624
		Chris Bell	8.5	159,751
		Sema Hernandez	7.4	137,892
		Michael Cooper	4.9	92,463
		Victor Harris	3.2	59,710
		Adrian Ocegueda	2.2	41,566
		Jack Daniel Foster Jr.	1.7	31,718
		D.R. Hunter	1.4	26,902

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,869,419
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Love III (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas

Incumbent John Cornyn defeated Dwayne Stovall, Mark Yancey, John Castro, and Virgil Bierschwale in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Cornyn	76.0	1,470,669
		Dwayne Stovall	11.9	231,104
		Mark Yancey	6.5	124,864
		John Castro	4.5	86,916
		Virgil Bierschwale	1.1	20,494

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,934,047
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green convention

Green convention for U.S. Senate Texas

David B. Collins advanced from the Green convention for U.S. Senate Texas on April 18, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		David B. Collins (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Texas

Kerry McKennon advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Texas on August 3, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Kerry McKennon (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Wes Benedict (L)
• Rhett Rosenquest Smith (L)

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Annie Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garcia's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a trilingual attorney, small business owner, non-profit founder, Rice alum and mom to three kiddos, all in a HISD.

In 2020, I ran in the Texas Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Much like now, I ran because I was mad as hell. It was crazy, running without any fundraising, name recognition or party support. But despite those very long odds, I broke through and came in fourth out of 12 candidates. I am running again because no candidate for the most important office in our city is treating the forced state takeover of our schools as the crisis that it is. And in fact, the front-runner, Senator John Whitmire, even voted for it. The state overrode the people’s will when it dissolved our last elected School Board and appointed a Board that answers only to the Governor. The Governor, in turn, has vowed to replace public education with vouchers. All of this is happening as conservatives are targeting school boards to further their agenda, including banning the teaching of racism and even the portrayal of Blackness, targeting of trans kids, and denying undocumented children an education. While the new Superintendent implements his Nonsensical Education System (NES), our kids are falling further behind. The next Mayor must use the City’s power and purse to save our schools. If you believe that public education is not only a public good, but a public necessity, my candidacy is a rare chance to oppose the takeover.

Vote for Mama G and tell Greg Abbott to get out of HISD!

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Our School Board Election was Stolen. The Board we elected in 2021 was replaced by Greg Abbott against our will.
• Nonsensical Education System (NES) Makes Kids Dumber.
• The State Could Take Over Every School In HISD.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you address crime and public safety? Do you have a different stance than current city council policy?

An effective public safety plan must address multiple variables that contribute to unsafety. Most crimes occur against the backdrop of need. Economic opportunity available to all is not the right thing to do, it makes us all safer.

Educational opportunity goes hand-and-hand with economic opportunity. Getting the state out of our schools and equitably applying city resources to truly address poor outcomes and educational disparities also will also improve public safety.

Third, prioritizing affordable housing and perpetuating recent successes while continuing to look for innovative solutions must be an element to a comprehensive plan.

Fourth, gun regulation is an obvious area to improve public safety, yet most candidates won’t consider it. There are opportunities for the Mayor to reduce gun violence through regulation, which I welcome the chance to explore.

And finally, while ensuring that police are adequately funded is a priority, policing without accountability must end.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

All of my interest in public policy derive from one source- inequality and injustice.

The forced state takeover of HISD is one example in an ever-growing list of the injustices that are being inflicted on the most vulnerable in society. The schools that have been taken over are in underresourced Black and Brown communities, largely on the east side of the city.

The stated goal of targeting these kids to help them is undermined by the stupidity of the policies that they are implementing. In what world do you remove libraries, librarians and books if you want to improve reading? In what world do you remove kids from the classroom and force them to "learn remotely" if you want to improve their test scores? In what world do you implement a complete system overhaul of the largest school district in Texas on one-third of the schools, without testing and improving it on a small scale first?

It's hard to divorce what is happening in our schools against what is happening in our state. All of this is happening as conservatives are targeting school boards to further their agenda, including banning the teaching of racism and even the portrayal of Blackness, the targeting of trans kids, adenying undocumented children an educatio.

Whereas compassionate conservatism of yesteryear touted “No Child Left Behind”, today’s GOP leaves the most vulnerable behind by design, so long there is money to be made.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Confederacy of Dunces

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Authenticity, genuine regard for all people, empathy, grace and a super thick skin.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am not a politician. I am a fed-up Mama, and I don't care about winning relection, and haven't relied on rich people to fund my campaign and owe no one anything.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Serve the public.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to take the lemons that have been forced on us with the state takeover of our public schools, and turn them into the proverbial lemonade. I would like to create a model for excellence in education in which we flood the communities most in need with resources, and improve outcomes across the board, truly preparing all students to be successful and self-sufficient when they graduate.

What do you love most about your city?

Houston’s superpower is its diversity. The diversity of perspectives, life experiences and knowledge leads to endless positives- creative problem-solving, innovation and not to mention one of best food scenes in the world.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Fending off the oppression of the state government.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.

2020

Annie Garcia completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garcia's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Georgetown, Texas, attended Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law. I practiced finance law, and did extensive immigration law pro bono. I have lived in Ecuador (2 years), Spain (4 years) and Berlin (2 years) and speak Spanish and German. I have a non-profit organization I started after my daughter was born with a life-threatening heart defect. OpHeart works at the crossroads of medicine and technology. I also have a small home-restoration business in the Third Ward of Houston. I am mom to three wonderful little humans- Hugo (6), Ari (5) and Rafa (3). My husband is a naturalized U.S. citizen, he and my kids have dual Spanish-American citizenship, and I applied for my Spanish nationality last year.

I have never run for office but have the audacity to run now for 3 reasons. First, I am fed up with the gross injustice that is literally killing people in our country, and the ways in which the privileged exploit everyone else.

Second, I am running because we are running out of time. I fear for the country and planet our kids will inherit.

Finally, I am tired of losing. Democrats have not won a statewide race in nearly 3 decades. I know that we can sweep. But it is going to take a candidate that has the moral compass, political courage and work ethic to give people reason to believe again in the goodness of government.

I am not a politician. I don't talk like one or act like one. And I will do what no politician will to get things done,

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I am a mother, lawyer, small-business owner, and humanitarian. I am not a politician.
• People are literally dying in our hospitals, jails, schools and at our border because of unfettered greed and absence of a moral minimum.
• As Senator-Elect, on Nov. 4, 2020, I will move to the border and will enter the Senate with a plan to reunite families. On day 1, I will launch a 411 hotline, where you will receive a human- and humane- reponse within 48 hours.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Universal healthcare. The prioritization of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness over unlimited access to profits by gunmakers. Returning government to the people. Campaign finance reform. Impeaching Cavanaugh for lying under oath and sexual assault. Insuring every woman's right to safe, legal abortion. Eradicating childhood poverty. Building the best, most equitable public school system the world has ever seen. Building a sustinainable, 22nd-century economy. Restoring America's role as a leader on the world stage. Ensuring that every American lives with dignity, and all their needs met. Fighting racism, sexism, and homophobia. Un sistema sanitaria que incluye todos. Parar a proteger las ganancias de los venededores de armas en vez de las vidas de nuestros vecinos y ninos. Asegurarando derecho de cada mujar a tener un aborto. Quitando la pobreza de los ninos. Volviendo nuestra patria a la gente.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Honestly, prior to 2016, my sheroes were all historical figures. But with the onslaught to the most basic of what I had thought were accepted truths, they are woman whose air I now share. AOC, Fiona Hill, Ambassador Yovanovitch, Sally Yates, Elaine Duke.. the women who every day speak truth to power, come what may, are my living, breathing examples of who I want to be.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have the moral clarity, political courage and work ethic to do what no politician will.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave my kids a safe, green, happy world where people are truly treated equally.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember the Iran Contra Affair vividly. During the summers, we would pack up our Ford cargo van and go on a road trip. The summer of 1987, my mom figure out how to jerry-rig her little black-and-white TV that she kept in the kitchen (the screen count not have been more than 8 inches!) , and hook it up to the cigarette lighter.

That summer we drove to California and Washington (we would eventually drive to all 48 states in the Continental United States), and my mother struggled with the antenna on that TV as we wound our way up the Pacific Coast Highway. She was enthralled, and I appreciated that something very serious had happened, something that contradicted what I had thought was immutable- that our elected officials told the truth and put the people's interests above all else. Seeing Oliver North on the stand and later watching Ronald Reagan struggle to recall or answer key events, I lost a lot of faith in our world.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

The first summer I could work, I held two jobs. I worked in a retirement home in the kitchen during the day, and at night I worked as a carhop at our local Sonic in Georgetown, Texas. I left the retirement home when school started back up in the fall, but kept my job at Sonic for the remainder of my senior year. The next summer before I left for college, I worked at The Monument Cafe, and it was magical. It was my first taste of adulthood (and wine coolers) and I was addicted. I met my first real boyfriend, who studied at Southwestern, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. I would eventually leave, both Georgetown and the boyfriend, but my love for restaurants and the restaurant subculture remains today. Restaurants fascinate me, not only because of my love of food (and wine replacing those early wine coolers), but because they are really a microcosm of our country and distill so many big issues that we face in society- a sustainable and safe food supply, A livable wage. Healthcare. The need for safe working environment. Sexual harassment. Immigration. And to think it all started with a strawberry limeade and a foot-long coney!

What is your favorite book? Why?

Confederacy of Dunces. Every time I read it, I am struck by how unique John Kennedy Toole's voice was, how much talent he possessed and what a loss that he took his own life.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Is there a female superhero whose superpower is invisibility?

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

My daughter is incapable of learning more than 1 line in any song. She's been on a "Santa Baby" loop all day long

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

For many years I struggled with needing the approval of men. But I am over that now.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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