Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) is battling to keep his seat from a far-right YouTube personality in Tuesday’s GOP primary runoff for a district that covers a large swath of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gonzales, 43, was first elected to Congress with the backing of then-President Trump in 2020. Brandon Herrera, 28, and known online as “The AK Guy,” built his political notoriety advocating for gun owners’ rights, amassing a following of more than 3 million on YouTube.
During a five-way primary for the GOP nomination in March, Gonzales took about 45 percent of the vote – not enough to cross the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff. Herrera got about 25 percent in the first round of voting.
The winner of their runoff will go on to face Democratic candidate Santos Limon in the deeply conservative district’s general election in November.
The district covers Uvalde, a town where 19 students and two teachers were murdered in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School two years ago. Its proximity to the border and the ongoing migrant crisis has been a major concern.
The primary battle has largely reflected a broader fight within the Republican Party between moderate conservative mainstays and Trump-inspired MAGA devotees.
Herrera has said he decided to run in the race after Gonzales became the only Texas Republican in the House to support bipartisan gun legislation one month after the Uvalde shooting.
No stranger to controversy, Herrera has come under fire for his use of Nazi imagery, off-color jokes and Confederate sympathies.
He also has faced backlash for mocking Trump's teenage son, Barron, and publicly saying he doesn't think Trump can win a general election against President Biden.
Gonzales blasted his Republican colleagues who endorsed Herrera as "some real scumbags,” during a recent interview on CNN's Inside Politics. Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.) have all come out in support of Herrera’s campaign
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), who had stayed out of the race, tweeted his disgust with Gonzales' CNN remarks.
"This is such BS and so pathetic, especially from a fellow veteran," he wrote, attaching a video of the CNN interview. "To insinuate that other members are klansmen because they call you out for being a complete and total RINO."
