SAN ANTONIO — Tony Gonzales faced a big obstacle on his road to a potential third term in the U.S. House District 23 seat. On Tuesday, voters decided between him and Second Amendment YouTuber Brandon Herrera to be the Republican nominee.
The result was a photo finish. With 99% of precincts reporting, Gonzales was projected the winner by the Associated Press with 50.7% to 49.3%.
“The future of America remains as bright as ever. Thank you #TX23 for continuing to place your faith in me,” Gonzales said on social media.
Despite his massive fundraising operation and powerful allies, Gonzales’ victory was exceedingly tight. With all precincts reporting, Gonzales led by about 400 votes. The difference is within the margin where Herrera could request a recount.
The result was the culmination of months of feuding between the centrist Gonzales and the right-wing of the Republican Party — which spilled out into the open in the months ahead of the election, despite pleas from leadership and the rank-and-file to keep the fighting behind closed doors.
Gonzales was granted a comfortable head start over Herrera with the early vote, but continued to slim as Tuesday ballots rolled in. He will go on to face Santos Limon in November.
U.S. House District 23 encompasses 58,000 square miles in west Texas and is home to more than 778,000 residents, according to Census Reporter.
The race was Gonzales’ first since his censure by the Texas Republican Party in March last year for taking centrist stances that the more culturally conservative state party found objectionable. The censure opened Gonzales to four challengers from the right, including former Medina County Republican Party Chair Julie Clark, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Victor Avila and former Border Patrol Agent Frank Lopez.
Herrera is known for this online persona, dubbed “the AK Guy,” and his irreverent sense of humor in YouTube videos and podcast appearances. His off-color online reputation was seen by some in his party as a liability, but it ended up a significant platform, allowing him to widely spread his message and fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars.
None of the candidates got the required 50% of the votes needed to stave off a runoff in the March 5 GOP primary, with Gonzales securing 45% of the vote. Herrera received just under 25%.
The district, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and is bigger than several states, represents more of the U.S.-Mexico border than any other district in the country. It is the largest in Texas and includes parts of several metropolitan areas. It also includes Uvalde, which Gonzales represented during the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Gonzales’ censure followed his opposition to a hardline border bill by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, and his support for bipartisan gun safety legislation after the Robb Elementary shooting.
Herrera was a strong fundraiser, having raised over $827,000 ahead of the primary and over $1.3 million ahead of the run off through his official campaign committee. He attracted contributions from a who’s-who of far-right conservatives in the state and beyond, including supporters of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and former Texas state Sen. Don Huffines.
But it paled in comparison to Gonzales’ fundraising operation, which was backed by several business interests active in West Texas and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Gonzales raised over $4.5 million ahead of the runoff, a third of which was raised in April before the runoff.
Gonzales spent Tuesday crisscrossing his district, starting in San Antonio and making stops in Eagle Pass and Uvalde County. He and Herrera opted against having traditional election night parties, with Gonzales staying on the road through Tuesday evening.
Speaking outside of a San Antonio polling location on Tuesday, Herrera said the amount of money Gonzales and House Republican leadership was pouring into the race showed his grassroots campaign was a real threat.
“There’s a reason why Tony’s been asking for a lot of third party money,” Herrera said. “As somebody that [Gonzales] didn’t take seriously early on, we’ve made the uni-party spend about $8 million they weren’t expecting to.”
Herrera had the support of the House Freedom Caucus and other rabble-rousing right wingers in the Republican Party. Gonzales had beefed for years with those members on policy that he said was too extreme, including on the border and government funding. He also irked his peers when he was one of a few Republicans to vote against U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for House Speaker. Jordan was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus and the right-wing’s top pick.
The conflict simmered under the surface through the past two years, with members generally maintaining cordial relationships in public. But all came spilling into the public in April when Gonzales called his right-wing colleagues “scumbags” and compared them to the Klu Klux Klan for refusing to vote for billions of dollars in foreign aid to Ukraine.
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