HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Harris County Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Israel Garcia has spent 12 hours a day for the last two weeks talking to early voters in his district.
"We've been here for the whole entire voting period," Garcia said.
Earlier this week, while he was taking a break from those conversations, he said he became a victim of a costly burglary.
He said that while his car windows were down and he was distracted, someone stole a bag that was holding his license, credit cards, $1,000 in cash and a loaded pistol.
"I had all these alerts from the bank saying do you accept or decline this transaction," he said.
Those transactions helped investigators track the thieves from the Bayland Community Center to a Walmart off Rice Boulevard to a car wash in Missouri City and a Kroger in west Houston. His cards have been deactivated and some of the items that were stolen have been discarded.
"I feel really, really violated. And I feel, like, wow, someone has my license, someone has one checking account, someone has my car keys to all my cars, someone has my keys to where I live," Garcia said.
Garcia said he never has been through anything like what he's now dealing with. It serves as a reminder that you can never be too cautious.
"Be really careful because if it can happen to me when my cars are right in front of me, it can happen to anybody and anyone," he said.
Garcia, a Democrat, is up for reelection next week. He's currently in a contested race to hold his seat against Republican challenger James Lombardino.