Burnt Orange Report

Juan Garcia Kicks Off Campaign Tomorrow

By Damon McCullar

Navy veteran and lawyer Juan Garcia kicks off his campaign for state rep tomorrow with none other than Gen. Wesley Clark. The campaign kickoff is at 4pm at the Selena Auditorium in Corpus Christi.

I had an opportunity to speak to Juan last night in a phone interview.

DM: When did you first consider running for public office?

JG: Starting about a year! ago, I started receiving emails encouraging me to run and folks from around the state started making the trip down to Corpus to make the case for why it was important, and why it made sense to run for this seat. But the fact is I've always felt a calling to serve, and that's why after graduating from law school I went to naval flight training. If ever somehow involved down the road in making that most sacred of decisions, whether to send young men and women into harm's way, I think it's important
to have taken a turn yourself.

DM: Why state rep? Why not city council or governor or anything else
in between?

JG: When I was first approached about running for office, it was in terms of an open US Senate seat (because Senator Hutchinson was rumored to be running for governor). I was intrigued, and very interested in talking about the war, and the issues surrounding it. But as we all know, that didn't happen, and to try and raise the massive warchest necessary to compete with an entrenched, incumbent U.S. Senator, especially as a first-time candidate, just didn't make sense. But I feel that I can make an immediate difference in the Texas House. On the heels of a string of failed sessions dedicated to education, I think there's a unique opportunity here to impact schooling throughout Texas.

DM: Tell me about your family?
JG: My Dad is a retired navy pilot from Robstown, the next little town past Corpus. He flew A-7 attack jets, and he used to always say that if he'd been there with an A-7, the Alamo would have been a whole different story. The Navy has a tradition called a "Tiger Cruise," in which the aircraft carrier, after a deployment to the Gulf, pulls into Pearl Harbor, and family members board the ship, and ride it back home into San Diego. I did a Tiger Cruise aboard the USS Constellation with my dad when I was 8 years old, and that's really where I got the bug to fly. 25 years later I got to return the
favor, when he was my guest aboard the Constellation. My wife and I met as classmates at Harvard Law School. She grew up in New
York, and settling down in my hometown in South Texas was a tough sell for her initially, but she's come to love it. We have four kids, the oldest being 7-year old twins: three boys and a daughter, whom if my plan holds, will enter the Convent when she's 16.

DM: Tell me about your naval career?

JG: I spent 13 years on active duty, and left in October 2004 as a
Lieutenant Commander. I was a pilot, did a couple deployments to the Gulf, and served as the aide-de-camp to the deputy Commander in
Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe. I'm still serving as an Instructor Pilot in the Naval Reserve, teaching the Navy's newest pilots to fly, right here at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. (My youngest brother is a newly-commissioned officer in the Navy and reports to flight training in a couple weeks. We're hoping we get to fly together - in which case he will
see the inside of his stomach!).

DM: Gen. Wesley Clark is coming to your campaign kickoff, what is
your relationship to him?

JG: I served under his command during Kosovo, and later got to know him when was selected to be a White House Fellow. He was a White House Fellow as well, and later served on the board that selects future Fellows. He's got one of the most amazing bio's in American public life, and I'm honored that he's making the trip down to the Coastal Bend for my event.