By Suzanne Gamboa -
NBC News
DALLAS — Long before she jumped into the race for Texas attorney general, Democrat Rochelle Garza defeated an attempt by the Trump administration to stop a detained immigrant teen from receiving an abortion.
Incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton backed the administration in that 2017 case, warning in a report that "Texas must not become a sanctuary state for abortion."
But Garza, an immigration attorney,
won in the appeals court and the teenager got an abortion,
thus creating what is known as 'the Garza notice', which protects immigrants' access to abortion.
Now, polls show Garza is in a tight race with Paxton for a job that has taken on new meaning since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade in June.
After that ruling ended the constitutional right to abortion, Texas gave its attorney general the power to collect up to $100,000 in civil penalties for any abortion performed in the state.
Rochelle Garza speaks about election issues at a patio party in Brownsville, Texas, on September 24, 2021. Eric Gay/AP File
“I got into this for my daughter, I have a six-month-old girl.
I knew she was pregnant when I decided to go for it.
She was nine weeks pregnant when the six-week abortion ban went into effect,” Garza told NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, referring to the state ban.
"I saw it as a sign that I couldn't ignore... and I felt like I had to step up."
Matt Rinaldi, the chairman of the Texas Republican Party, said in a statement that Paxton has been a leader nationally and in Texas.
“Paxton has not only defended Texas against attacks by Biden, but has gone on the offensive, fighting against COVID quarantines and mask mandates, human trafficking, sanctuary cities, and the censorship of big tech.
We hope to keep him in office."
[Texas Supreme Court Blocks Order Resuming Abortions]
Paxton's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Paxton is currently indicted on securities fraud charges
and is being investigated by the FBI for alleged abuse of power.
He denied doing anything wrong.
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A native of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas,
Garza is the only major party Latina candidate for executive office
on the statewide ballot, even though the number of Latinos in Texas outnumbered whites this year.
Democrats are also fielding Latina candidates for the state Supreme Court, and there are Latina Libertarian Party candidates on the ballot.
Garza has already made history by being
the first Latina to be nominated for Texas Attorney General.
She would break more barriers if she wins in November, as the first Hispanic, first woman and first Democrat elected to state executive office since 1994.
[Texas Sues Biden Administration for Ordering Medical Providers to Perform Emergency Abortions]
“I grew up in Brownsville… I am a fifth-generation Texan from the (Rio Grande Valley) region.
I am a civil rights attorney.
I am a mother and I am here to beat Ken Paxton who is criminally charged,” Garza told his supporters gathered at Chocolate Secrets in Dallas.
The Fuerza Latina event, organized by Battleground Texas, included the participation of actress America Ferrera.
A “pro-choice, unapologetic” candidate
Garza said she is running as an "unapologetic, pro-choice" candidate, which she credited with helping her emerge as
one of the top two vote-getters in a crowded primary
, then leading her to victory in the second round, where he captured 80% or more of the vote in South Texas, which is predominantly Latino.
Polls have shown Garza within 2 to 7 percentage points of Paxton among all Texas voters.
But
that narrow gap is wider than it seems
because Texas is one of the redder states and is receiving a heavy Republican focus as the party struggles to win more Latino support in the state.
Rochelle Garza at the annual Texas Tribune Festival in downtown Austin on September 24.
Bob Daemmrich / Zuma via Alamy archive
She announced on Tuesday the release of her first television commercial.
In it,
she attacks Paxton's anti-abortion policies
and will also air on digital platforms.
Republicans stick with Paxton
The loyalty of Republican voters is evident.
Paxton had enough support to win re-election in 2018 and stay competitive this year,
despite being charged with a felony a few months after taking office in 2015.
The securities fraud indictment says Paxton defrauded investors in a
high-tech
startup by not telling them that the company was paying him to recruit them.
[Latina arrested in Texas accused of murder after suffering an abortion]
Paxton was in the headlines again recently for
running away from home to avoid being served a subpoena to testify
in a lawsuit challenging Texas' abortion ban.
And more recently, he faced strong criticism after an Associated Press report on his clumsiness in handling human trafficking and child sexual assault cases because he lost track of one of the victims.
The AP called the case
"emblematic of a broader dysfunction"
in Paxton's office.
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Although Latino voters in Texas prefer Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, a Texas Hispanic Public Policy Foundation survey of likely voters found that Republican candidates still had the support of enough Hispanics to win. their races.
In the race for attorney general,
50% of Hispanics preferred Garza to 40% who backed Paxton,
according to analysis by Mike P. Jones, who conducts polling and analysis for the foundation.
(The margin of error for 468 respondents was 4.5 percentage points.)
Given the closeness of the race, Garza resisted being called the loser, saying she was
similarly underestimated when she went to court on behalf of the immigrant teen
who wanted an abortion.
“We are fighting tooth and nail because we know what is at stake.
All the factors are there for us: the Roe overturn, the fact that the demographics of this state have changed so significantly.
I am the only Latina in the state race.
People from all over the state see themselves in my campaign,” she said.
We are fighting tooth and nail because we know what is at stake."
Rochelle Garza, Attorney General Candidate
Texas Democrats have banked on a pro-choice candidate in the past, such as in 2014, when then-state Sen. Wendy Davis, who had filibustered and killed an abortion bill, drew large crowds to Capitol Hill. state, ran for governor.
Greg Abbott defeated her.
Garza had about $1.5 million on hand after raising $1.6 million through the end of September versus Paxton's $4.9 million on hand after he raised $2.1 million, according to the latest campaign spending reports filed Tuesday.
[“We are seeing a lot of desperation”: Latinas denouncing the impact of the Texas abortion law]
But Garza is running in a completely different atmosphere than Davis, Democratic strategist Laura Barberena said.
“Wendy had a great and compelling story, but I don't think women felt threatened (then), because there was still Roe v.
Wade,” she said.
Performing an abortion in Texas is now a felony,
punishable by up to life in prison.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a 2020 photo.Tony Gutierrez/AP File
Garza's run and that of other pro-choice candidates this year will help debunk representations that Latinos oppose abortion.
While their support may not be as high as that of whites and blacks, polls have shown that most Latinos want abortion to be legal in all or more cases.
In addition, polls have shown that interest in the issue of reproductive rights and abortion is increasing ahead of the midterm elections.
The problem, however, has not equaled or nullified the main concerns about inflation and the economy.
[Banning Abortion Doesn't Stop It: Why You're Worried the Supreme Court Will Overturn Roe v. wade]
Barbarena said Garza's career can be defined by white women.
“Are they going to break with the party or will they stay because they see that their rights and those of their daughters and nieces are being taken away?
It's going to be white women deciding whether they're Republican first or women first."
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Democrats have seen
increases in female voter registration since Roe v.
Wade.
In Texas, the new registration gains were about the same for men and women, but the new voters are younger and more Democratic, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing an analysis by TargetSmart.
But the boost Democrats received from abortion appears to be slowing with the GOP's growing attacks on immigration, inflation and crime.
[Texas Sues Biden Administration for Ordering Medical Providers to Perform Emergency Abortions]
“What abortion fundamentally did was energize the Democratic base, but
I don't see it moving undecided voters.
His influence on those votes is diminishing,” said Luke Macias, a conservative political consultant in San Antonio.
Voters interviewed in Dallas generally knew little about the race for attorney general.
Some recognized Paxton's name, in large part because he had been accused of committing crimes.
Rochelle Garza, center, looks on as actress and activist America Ferrera speaks at an event in Dallas.Suzanne Gamboa/NBC News
Jackie Valdez, 47, of Mesquite, attended the Dallas meeting of Fuerza Latina.
He first heard about Garza in the primary and said he found
the presence of a Latina on the ballot inspiring.
She attended the forum, she said, to educate herself, because "reproductive rights and the general health and well-being of people across the state, that's at stake."
Paxton has won points with conservatives who applaud the role he has played in contrast to the administrations and policies of former President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden.
Paxton has sued or joined lawsuits against the Biden Administration some 30 times, over immigration, abortion, COVID-19 vaccines and more.
Abortion energized the Democratic base, but I don't see it moving undecided voters."
Luke Macias, conservative political consultant
But Garza says Paxton's time could have been better spent holding businesses and officials accountable for the power grid failure during the February 2021 freeze that killed 246 Texans, and he could be doing a better job managing his office.
He said
he would open a civil rights division if he wins
and would do a better job of protecting consumers.
“This is a law and order campaign.
Ken Paxton doesn't think the law applies to him,” she said.
"You can't be the tough law-and-order candidate when you're under indictment yourself."
[Texas promised to "take all rapists off the streets." This is what has changed a year later]
Garza said he could get his agenda done, even if Abbott, in a close race with Democrat Beto O'Rourke, is re-elected.
The attorney general does not have to answer to the governor, but to the people of Texas, he said.
“I would be more than happy to work with Governor Abbott on expanding Medicaid and addressing the lack of rural hospitals, and
fighting maternal death rates,
” he said.
