Rep. Monica De La Cruz’s campaign is standing by a new ad featuring a deputy who was fired last year over alleged sexual harassment and stalking.
The Texas Republican’s spot, filmed in June, stars Deputy Zachary Garcia from Goliad County tearing into her Democratic opponent Bobby Pulido as “anti-cop” and accusing him of siding with criminals. The campaign insists it knew nothing about Garcia’s backstory when cameras rolled, noting that public reports of his conduct did not surface until August.
Records show Garcia was dismissed from the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office in 2024 following accusations that he harassed a female dispatcher after she ended their relationship. The woman broke things off on Aug. 30, 2024, and Garcia allegedly placed roughly 20 calls to her over a two-day stretch, including some where he blocked his caller ID. GPS data from a marked patrol unit showed the vehicle waited outside her home for more than an hour on Aug. 31, 2024, a period when no known calls for service came from that area. Garcia later admitted to the repeated calls and to waiting outside her residence while in uniform, according to documents obtained by the Hawk’s Eye.
An internal probe also turned up claims from a female supervisor who said Garcia invited her inside his apartment after she helped him with groceries, then urged her to get closer and sniff his cologne. Garcia denied that accusation. Wilson County ultimately concluded he committed sexual harassment against both women. During his tenure there, Garcia also worked concurrently as a deputy sheriff in Goliad, where he remains employed.
Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd defended his deputy when questioned. “Deputy Garcia has been a valued member of the Goliad County Sheriff’s Office since 2018 and has served as a deputy since 2022,” Boyd said in a statement to The Post. “He is well respected by our staff and local residents.”
Boyd framed the scrutiny as politically motivated. “[I]t is unfortunate that partisan activists are smearing a man who risks his life to protect our community at the behest of a corrupt celebrity who endangered it by bringing a child sex predator around children and families,” he continued. “We will not be intimidated, and we fully support Deputy Garcia’s First Amendment right to speak his mind.”
The ad controversy has inflamed an already bitter race that the Cook Political Report rates as a toss-up. De La Cruz’s team has sought to weaponize Pulido’s own social media history, including a post where the Latin Grammy winner complained that some officers were “abusive a–holes.” Her campaign has also hammered Pulido over his ties to ex-bandmate Frankie Caballero, who was convicted of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl in 2014 and served four years in prison. The Post previously reported that Pulido toured with Caballero after his release.
“Congresswoman De La Cruz stands with the brave men and women who keep South Texas safe. Everything in that ad is true,” her campaign manager James Shook said in a statement. “If Bobby Pulido doesn’t like cops calling him out for bringing a serial pedophile around little kids, then he shouldn’t have brought a serial pedophile around little kids.”
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Christian Martinez piled on. “Bobby Pulido is a depraved scumbag who calls the law enforcement officers keeping Texans safe ‘abusive assholes,'” Martinez said. “South Texans see Pulido for what he is: a morally rotten fraud.” Martinez accused him of looking “the other way as his friend molested children.”
Pulido’s camp has forcefully rejected those characterizations. His campaign manager previously told The Post that “Bobby was never made aware of Caballero’s sex offender registration and would never knowingly associate with anyone with that kind of history.” The statement added that “Bobby extends his deepest sympathies and support to all of the victims involved.”
The mudslinging has cut both ways. Pulido recently aired an ad targeting De La Cruz’s ex-husband, Juan Gabriel Hernandez, who was charged in 2022 with assault of a peace officer or judge and impeding breath or circulation. Hernandez pleaded guilty to the assault charge and received five years of community supervision. Pulido’s spot cited Hernandez’s accusations against De La Cruz and claimed she had “a restraining order filed against her for child abuse.” A temporary restraining order did emerge during their contentious divorce, which included a fight over control of her house, but that order lapsed and the court never substantiated the underlying claims.
De La Cruz, 44, flipped her South Texas district in 2022 and is fighting to hold it in a cycle where Democrats see opportunity.