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Local Races that Matter
Update: 12:15 a.m.: Congressman Tony Gonzales declared victory late Tuesday night over Brandon Herrera with a razor-thin margin separating the candidates.
Gonzales got 51% of the vote with a total of 15,023 while Herrera received 49% of the vote with a total of 14,616. That’s a 407-vote difference.
Herrera is likely to ask for a recount but as it stands, Gonzales will face Democrat S. Limon in November.
The massive District 23, which stretches from Bexar County to El Paso and covers a long stretch of the US-Mexico border, includes Uvalde, Fort Stockton, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Big Bend and more.
Gonzales has served as a congressman for the district since he was elected in 2020.
Votes
%
Tony Gonzales*(R)
Brandon Herrera(R)
(358 / 362)
Background:
The path to a potential third term in Congress for Tony Gonzales isn’t going to be easy.
Gonzales was the top vote-getter in the race for US Representative District 23 in the GOP primary in March, but he didn’t get over 50% of the vote which is needed to advance outright to the general election in November.
Coming in second was Brandon Herrera, a YouTube personality and gun manufacturer, who received just over 20% of the vote.
The two will find out on Tuesday in the Texas Primary runoff election who will win the GOP nomination and face Democrat S. Limon.
The district
Gonzales has served as a congressman for the district, which stretches along the border from El Paso to San Antonio, since he was elected in 2020. It includes Uvalde, Fort Stockton, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Big Bend and more.
The Republican congressman, a Navy veteran from San Antonio, was censured by his own party in 2023 over positions he took that split with the party.
Those decisions include a vote to reject a border security proposal by fellow Texas Republican Chip Roy, the support of a bill defending same-sex marriage protections and a bipartisan gun law passed in response to the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde.
In an interview on Spriester Sessions, Gonzales said he wouldn’t change anything about his voting.
“You look at my voting record. My voting record is very strong on the Constitution. Once again, I swore an oath to the Constitution at 18 years old. And I’ve never stopped doing that right. And I’ve worked really hard to. Go, look, we can protect the Constitution and we can protect our kids. It does not have to be either/or,” he said.
Herrera said Gonzales’ voting record is what spurred him to seek office and try to unseat Gonzales.
“I never had any interest in running for office,” Herrera said in an interview on Spriester Sessions. “I got really frustrated with the votes my congressman was making. I thought, you have a Texas Republican, that meant something. He was going to be an actual conservative fighter. It is not somebody who represents my values. And I was worried that he was going to get away with continuing to do that.”