Webb County Campaigns
In 1980, Garcia won a hard-fought Democratic nomination for district attorney for the right to succeed the retiring Charles Robert Borchers (1943–1997), who served from 1973 to 1980. Garcia was reelected in 1984 but did not pursue a third term in 1988, when he was succeeded by a distant relative, Joe Rubio, Jr. He resumed private practice in 1989 and was ultimately joined by his daughter and son.
Garcia began working in political campaigns with the election of his father-in-law, Porfirio L. Flores (1912–1993), as Webb County sheriff. In 1978, he managed the race of his former law associate, Antonio "Tony" Zardenetta, for the 111th District Court, the second of four state courts to have been created in Laredo. Zardenetta, a cousin of Mrs. Garcia's who resides in San Antonio, had previously served for three years by appointment as judge of the county court-at law in Laredo. Zardenetta recalled: "Julio took charge of everything. He was one heck of a campaign manager. He was like El Cid from Spain, galvanizing all the troops and marshaling all the resources," recalled Zardenetta in an interview with the Laredo Morning Times on the occasion of Garcia's death. Carlos Zaffirini, Sr., another Laredo lawyer and the husband of State Senator Judith Zaffirini, said that Garcia's greatest strength in politics was in energizing grassroots supporters.
Julio Garcia, Jr., said that his father had a "passion for the law . . . so intense and so deep that it piqued your interest. . . . He's irreplaceable. There was nobody like him. He's one of those characters that someone who's writing a best-seller would dream up. . . . "
Judge Oscar J. Hale, Jr., elected in 2004 and 2008, described his fallen friend as one who "exemplified the work ethic and perseverance in all aspects of life. Our community may be saddened that it has lost one of its best advocates for justice, but we should all rest assured knowing that in heaven, we now have our own legal guardian." Hale's father, Oscar Hale, Sr., chief investigator for the DA's office, called Garcia "a tough guy with a big heart."
Read more about this topic: Julio A. Garcia
Famous quotes containing the words webb, county and/or campaigns:
“I marched in with the men afoot; a gallant show they made as they marched up High Street to the depot. Lucy and Mother Webb remained several hours until we left. I saw them watching me as I stood on the platform at the rear of the last car as long as they could see me. Their eyes swam. I kept my emotion under control enough not to melt into tears.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“But I would say to my fellows, once for all, As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“That food has always been, and will continue to be, the basis for one of our greater snobbisms does not explain the fact that the attitude toward the food choice of others is becoming more and more heatedly exclusive until it may well turn into one of those forms of bigotry against which gallant little committees are constantly planning campaigns in the cause of justice and decency.”
—Cornelia Otis Skinner (1901–1979)