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
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