His reputation shredded by a sex scandal involving a staffer who committed suicide, incumbent Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales said he was no longer seeking re-election, handing the GOP nomination to YouTube gun personality Brandon Herrera. If his last bid for office is any indication, the self-nicknamed “AK Guy” could soon find himself in the crosshairs of AIPAC and other pro-Israel organizations. If he prevails in November, Congress could gain a Republican who feels no need to pander to the tiny, far-away country and its stateside boosters.
🚨 BREAKING: Embattled Congressman Tony Gonzales, who had an affair with a staffer who later kiIIed herself, has DROPPED his re-election bid in Texas’ 23rd District
2nd Amendment fighter Brandon Herrera is OFFICIALLY the Republican nominee for the deep red districts
LET’S GO!!! pic.twitter.com/r8F0OUkKLd
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 6, 2026
Before the Thursday-night announcement, the two were headed to a runoff after Herrera beat the moderate Gonzales in the March 3 primary by 1%, but fell short of the required 50% to seal the nomination. Now, the nomination defaults to Herrera. One of the sharpest differences between the two was on the issue of gun control, with Herrera attacking Gonzales for backing a gun control bill after the 2022 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas — a town that lies in their district.
However, Gonzales’ hold on the seat was doomed by a scandal in which he at first denied, then admitted, that he had a sexual relationship with a staff member, who killed herself last year by setting herself ablaze. The House ethics committee is set to investigate the matter. On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson asked him to drop out of the race. Hours later, Gonzales did just that, but said he would serve out his term. Notably, Johnson didn’t push him to resign — as that would cut the GOP’s already-thin House margin pending a special election.
The general election pits Herrera against Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, a former teacher-turned-lawyer. In the 2024 midterms, Gonzales trounced his Democratic opponent, by a 62%-to-38% margin. As of February 6, the Cook Political Report rated the seat as “Solid Republican.” Democrats have expressed optimism for their prospects in a general election against Herrera. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the district by 3.5%, but a sea change has seen this and other heavily-Mexican-American districts swing hard toward the GOP.
I’m not anti Israel, I’m anti Israel buying American elections.
How many millions did you spend on this race alone? You make “Russian collusion” look like a fucking joke.
— Brandon Herrera (@TheAKGuy) May 29, 2024
When Herrera challenged Gonzales in 2024, he lost by less than 400 votes. The vaguely named United Democracy Project, a super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), spent more than a million dollars against Herrera. His offense? Opposing all foreign aid, including aid to Israel. He hasn’t even been vocal about Israel — ZeroHedge could only find five tweets in which he has ever mentioned the country. One of them condemned the Oct 7 Hamas invasion of Israel, and accused President Biden of giving billions of dollars to Iran and thus “fuel[ing] Iranian aggression.” As is typically their tactic, AIPAC’s 2024 attack-ads against Herrera didn’t mention Israel — and yet, when he lost, the group said it proved that “being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics.”
A Navy veteran and gun-maker from San Antonio, Herrera is vying to represent the enormous and largely rural 23rd Texas congressional district. Stretching from suburban San Antonio to suburban El Paso, it encompasses about 58,000 square miles — and a third of the entire US-Mexican border. About two-thirds of residents are Hispanic.
The pro-Israel lobby and other Herrera foes have tried to use his humorous YouTube videos against him, particularly one that recreated Hitler’s suicide with a Walther PP pistol. In the introduction, Herrera jokingly says, “I may not know his name, but I do know this: the man who killed Hitler has got to be a personal hero of mine.” In the performance, a producer steps in from off-camera to whisper in Herrera’s ear that Hitler is the person who killed Hitler. Herrera then looks into the camera as if realizing he’s made a major blunder. His disingenuous detractors want you to believe he was dog-whistling his admiration of Hitler.
Former Republican candidate Brandon Herrera joking about Hitler being his hero pic.twitter.com/OmCUFLLqVt
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) March 5, 2025
He’s also been attacked for reasonably referring to the Civil War as the “War of Northern Aggression,” and having been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. As for modern issues, Herrera has said he will “oppose any spending bill that does not fund the completion of the border wall.” Even for immigration hawks in his district, that could prove a controversial take, as the prospect of a wall in Big Bend National Park and other public and private land in the district is animating opposition.
As you’d expect, Herrera supports national concealed-carry reciprocity and opposes Red Flag laws. He says he’ll vote against “new firearms restrictions.” Failing to challenge the current gun control regime, Herrera’s stance is not exactly going to ignite passions and inspire donations from American gun owners.
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