TRI-COUNTY — The contentious Republican run-off for Texas Congressional District 23 hit the Big Bend last week as dark horse challenger Brandon Herrera met with voters in Fort Davis, Alpine and Presidio. Herrera is running against incumbent Tony Gonzales, who is banking on his record of service — and large amounts of cash — to eke out a win in late May.
Herrera has made waves in the primary as a gun dealer and social media influencer popular with the younger fringe of the far right. He told The Big Bend Sentinel in December that he felt a moral calling to run for office, to oppose Gonzales’ more moderate message and to give voice to border communities that felt abandoned in the media frenzy over immigration. (Herrera’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article.)
Per reporting by Matt Stringer at the Texan News, Herrera offered the small-town crowds a glimpse of his “anti-woke” persona — joking to a Fort Davis audience that sprawling omnibus bills sneak in funding for frivolous causes such as “mak[ing] sure that kids in Pakistan know that they’re gay” — but also promised constituents a higher degree of accessibility and transparency than his opponent.
Last Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed Gonzales in a press release urging voters across the vast border district to cast their votes in his favor. “Tony Gonzales is a fierce champion for bolstering border security measures in Congress,” his office wrote. “He knows the dangerous consequences that President Joe Biden’s reckless open border policies have on our state — and our nation. I know Tony will continue the fight in our nation’s capital to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorists, re-instate [sic] the Remain in Mexico policies, and deport people who illegally enter our country.”
Abbott’s endorsement came as a surprise to some, in the wake of Gonzales’ censure by Republicans in the state Legislature for what many characterized as his weak stance on fighting gun control and gay marriage. However, around a month prior, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick voiced his support for the incumbent, writing simply that he was “proud to endorse” Gonzales.
On Tuesday afternoon, Gonzales held a press conference for media representatives across the country, boasting his track record on border security and a large war chest of donations. “The border is the thing that people want to talk about most,” he said. “A couple years ago, no one knew where Eagle Pass was.”
The congressman said that he had earned the support of the national Border Patrol Council, as well as over 140 smaller organizations within the sprawling border district. “I think the secret sauce is always at the local level,” he said.
Gonzales criticized his opponent for what he thought was a late start to campaigning outside of San Antonio. He said that his campaign had also generated six figures to run an ad lambasting a joke that Herrera had cracked about veteran suicide — a joke that Herrera has since insisted was taken out of context. “It’s a pattern that’s just not Texas-23,” he said of Herrera’s acerbic sense of humor.
On a more upbeat note, Gonzales praised his constituents for the “contrarian” and “unique personalities” of the 29 mostly rural counties that he serves and promised that he would honor their many perspectives. “You either get stronger or you die politically,” he said.