Garcia focusing on immigration laws and tax breaks as he shifts focus to senate race

YAKIMA--Two months after entering the governor's race, Dr. Raul Garcia from Yakima is shifting gears by joining the 2024 U.S Senate race and endorsing former congressman and King County Sheriff Dave Reichert.

We asked if he believes Reichert is a better fit as a governor candidate than he would be,"

"I believe that he is competent, and he could do the job, and have found a solution, a win-win solution to work with him as a team and actually win two elections and bring about real change to Washington state," Garcia said.

We last talked to Garcia about his priorities for governor back in May, but now we asked him about what he would focus on as a senator.

First, Garcia says he would work on implementing stronger immigration policies, saying he wants less people to be crossing illegally while still providing a pathway to citizenship.

The nation's debt may be at record highs, but Garcia says he wants to cut more taxes for lower- and middle-class people along with small business owners.

"We need better solutions to bring down inflation and bring back economic growth for small businesses, for mom and pops stores," Garcia said.

It may not be an easy path to victory for Garcia as his likely opponent, Democratic incumbent Maria Cantwell, has already won 4 senate races in a row.

Cantwell voted in favor of the bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling last month.

While some cuts were made to spending, Garcia says he would have liked to see more cuts made.

"My fundamental belief is instead of raising our debt we should spend less," Garcia said.

This is now the second time that Garcia has not made it on the ballot in the governor's race as he ran back in 2020.