Gonzales faces ‘AK Guy’ in crowded primary
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, is locked in one of the toughest GOP congressional primaries in Texas — and it’s shaping up to be a bitter and unusual race.
Gonzales, who since 2021 has represented a huge swath of Texas stretching from San Antonio to El Paso, faces four primary opponents who say he is not conservative enough. Gonzales has been under fire from his party’s right flank after voting two years ago to codify same-sex marriage rights and to tighten gunbuyer background checks for young adults after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which is in his district.
Gonzales has batted off the criticism, defending those votes and touting his record on other issues, especially immigration and border security. Gonzales’ district includes the largest stretch of the U.S. border with Mexico, and he’s spent months advocating to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and pass legislation cracking down on illegal border crossings. And he’s been aggressive in knocking his opponents — especially Brandon Herrera, otherwise known as “the AK Guy,” who has built a brand around making and promoting firearms.
“Good Guys 1,” Gonzales posted on social media after casting a ballot on Tuesday, the first day of early voting. “Other Guys 0.”
Election Day is March 5, and this isn’t the first time Gonzales has faced a crowded primary. During his first run for the seat in 2020, Gonzales, a former Navy cryptologist, came out on top of a nine-candidate field and headed to a runoff, where he eked out a win against a more conservative opponent by just about 50 votes.
Two years later, he faced two primary challengers but easily secured the GOP nomination with 78% of the vote.
Jon Taylor, a politics professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said he thinks it’s unlikely that Gonzales will head to a runoff this time, but it’s definitely a possibility with so many candidates on the ballot. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will face off in May. He said he believes Gonzales is “feeling the pressure,” especially because he’s been hammering border messaging so hard in recent weeks. It’s the GOP’s top issue heading into the 2024 election.
Gonzales’ 2020 race was a “political near-death experience,” and he’s taking lessons from that primary into this one, Taylor said.
“He might think of himself as a pragmatist,” Taylor said. “He might see himself as someone who can realistically work across the aisle with Democrats. But he’s sure not showing it right now with all the stuff he’s doing.”
Gonzales’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Herrera is Gonzales’ most formidable opponent, with hundreds of thousands of followers on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and nearly $600,000 in his campaign coffers at the end of December. He outraised all three other candidates combined but still far trails Gonzales’ $2 million bank account.
Also in the race are Julie Clark, the chair of the Medina County GOP; Victor Avila, a retired supervisory special agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and Frank Lopez Jr., a retired supervisory Border Patrol agent who ran as an independent in the 23rd Congressional District in 2022.
Controversies
But Herrera, who lives in San Antonio, has faced additional scrutiny in recent weeks for a series of blunders and controversial statements on the campaign trail. Most recently, he made a joke about veteran suicides on a podcast episode: “If it makes everyone in the room feel better, I often think about putting a gun in my mouth,” he said. “So, I’m basically an honorary veteran.”
In the podcast, Herrera had said he’d wanted to make that joke during a recent speech but ultimately decided against it. He added that “every veteran I’ve ever told that joke to laughed their ass off.”
In 2022, more than 6,100 veterans died by suicide, averaging nearly 17 lives lost each day. The suicide rate for veterans is 150% higher than those who haven’t served, according to the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs.
Gonzales, who represents two Air Force bases, posted about the comment on social media and said there is “a special place in hell for scum and villainy (sic) who mock veteran suicide.”
Herrera replied by accusing Gonzales of taking the comment out of context. “Doesn’t matter though, you’re still losing your seat. I’m glad you’re scared though,” he said. His campaign did not respond to a request for additional comment.
In December, Herrera had an event at Oasis Outback, a gun store and restaurant, in Uvalde.
The next day, Uvalde police officers called in the San Antonio bomb squad to evaluate a device left at Oasis, the same place the Robb Elementary shooter purchased his weapon. It was an inactive explosive device, and there was never any threat to the area — but it did cause a scare.
Hererra’s campaign said a supporter had brought him a dummy shell as a “gag gift,” and the candidate gave the round to another supporter. That person left the shell at Oasis by accident, the campaign said.
“We regret any confusion or disturbance this caused,” the campaign said at the time.
Still, Herrera’s campaign has been forceful in its assertion that Gonzales isn’t the right person to represent the 23rd Congressional District, and the candidate has aligned himself with congressional representatives like Matt Gaetz of Florida. Herrera describes himself as a “very strong constitutionalist” but does not outline his specific stances or positions on his campaign website.
The other three candidates have similarly blasted Gonzales as a RINO, or a Republican in name only. At a debate in Uvalde last month, Avila, Lopez Jr. and Herrera blasted Gonzales for his opposition to a border bill that the incumbent called “anti-immigrant” and his vote to form the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“Someone asked me, ‘What’s the difference between you and the incumbent? ’” Avila said at the event. “And I told them, I’m right here. I’m standing in front of you, and you will continue to see me.”
Gonzales, meanwhile, has posted several pictures of himself in recent days sharing meals with constituents or doing interviews with local media.
His campaign has often reiterated the same sentiment when it comes to his opponents: “Anyone who laces them up against Tony Gonzales is running a fool’s errand. He will take you into the deep end of the political pool and drown you. There is a reason why he’s won every election he’s ever been in.”