The Circular Firing Squad Comes for Tony Gonzales

The Texas GOP wants to defeat its own Congressman Tony Gonzales in his primary runoff election later this month, but he’s going down swinging.

Dear Readers:

Again, I must apologize for the three-week lacuna since my last post. I was locked out of my Substack account during that time; whether that was user error or Substack support incompetence remains a hotly-debated issue. My hope is that, now that I have regained access to my account, I shall not lose it and be marooned again. Thank you for your patience and continued support!

Welcome to another installment of Life Its Ownself. I bring insight, analysis and context on Texas politics, as well as entertaining stories of life its ownself in the Lone Star State. If you like what you read, please 1) smash the Like button at the bottom of this installment, 2) subscribe to this newsletter, and 3) tell your 1,000 best friends to read and subscribe. Also, feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

But first, your moment of Zen … Yours Truly in the exquisite lobby of the Hotel Paisano in Marfa, Texas, April 22, 2024.

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Tuesday, May 7, 2024

         Once upon a time – and not that long ago – a guy like Tony Gonzales was considered a huge “get” for the Texas Republican Party.  This was in the days when the forward-thinking leadership of the party was aware of the increasing political participation of Hispanics in Texas, and of the party’s need to reach out to them. George W. Bush, running for president in 1999, criticized California’s anti-immigrant Prop 187 during a campaign swing through the Golden State:

''We wouldn't have had a 187 in my state,'' Mr. Bush said of Proposition 187, the initiative on immigration that curtailed the rights of illegal immigrants to services like schools.

Asked at a stop here whether he would have supported the measure, Mr. Bush sidestepped the question but made his qualms clear: ''I said when it first came out I was against the spirit of 187 for my state. I felt like every child ought to be educated regardless of the status of his parents. I don't know what's happened in California, but I do know that quotas won't work when it comes to certain social obligations such as encouraging capitalism to be spread all around the country.''

         His successor as Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, led the passage of the Texas DREAM Act, which extended in-state tuition and grant eligibility to non-citizens who’d been brought to the state as children.

         In those days, a guy like Tony Gonzales was considered an asset to the GOP, a shining star to be burnished and displayed for all. But that, as they say, was a long time ago.

(Obligatory early May Star Wars reference …)

         Tony Gonzales represents CD-23, which stretches from the outskirts of San Antonio to the outskirts of El Paso. He was first elected in 2020 and easily re-elected in 2022. But he is in a fight for his life to win a Republican primary runoff at the end of this month. His struggle gives a revealing glimpse into the modern Texas GOP.  

(Congressional District 23.)

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         In many ways, Tony Gonzales is an ideal GOP candidate. He grew up in the district he represents (something that cannot be said of all congresscritters). He served in the Navy for 20 years, including stints in Iraq and Afghanistan as a cryptologist and a fellowship with Senator Marco Rubio (which probably also tested his cryptological skills). When he came home to run for office in 2020, he narrowly won a runoff and then a general election nailbiter against Gina Ortiz Jones.  He easily won reelection in 2022. He received Donald Trump’s endorsement in both years.

(U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales)

         But Gonzales made fatal mistakes in these MAGA times: he voted independently. He supported the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and required the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states to recognize the validity of same- sex and interracial civil marriages. He was also one of 18 Republicans who voted against Jim Jordan's failed bid for Speaker of the House all three times, and the only Republican to have voted against the House rules package afterwards. And he was one of the 14 Republicans in the House to vote for a modest expansion of federal gun controllaws.

         His greatest sin was that he was among only 35 Republicans to join all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6, 2021 commission meant to investigate the violent insurrection of that day. For these transgressions, he was formally censured by the Texas GOP.

(You-Tube candidate Brandon Herrera caresses his big weapon.)

         As a result, Gonzales is in a tight runoff race against Brandon Herrera, a social media phenom known as the “AK Guy” – as in AK-47s, the go-to rifle of the Soviet Union era.  He is, in the parlance of our times, a “gun nut.” He has no record of public service and is running on the strength of his support for the Second Amendment. Gonzales got 45% of the vote in the March 5 primary to Herrera’s 25%, and Herrera hopes to consolidate the anti-Gonzales vote in the runoff later this month.  

         Gonzales was recently endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott – leading from behind as usual, a day after House Speaker Mike Johnson headlined a San Antonio fundraiser for him.  

         Herrera, meanwhile, has the backing of Texas’s own deranged Congressman Chip Royas well as Freedom Caucus B-listers Matt Gaetz and Bob Good. Gonzales recently spoke the quiet part out loud about them in a CNN interview that went viral.

“It’s my absolute honor to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags,” Gonzales said. “Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi. These people used to walk around in white hoods at night. Now they’re walking around with white hoods in the daytime.”

(Obligatory legal disclaimer: both Gaetz and Good strenuously deny the specific allegations against them, although they concede they are “scumbags.”)

         The fault lines in the state and national GOP are on vivid display in the runoff. Ideological purists in the Texas GOP and their Washington allies see defeating an apostate like Gonzales as a victory in principle, even if the seat flips to a Democrat in November. Mike Johnson, sitting on a one-person margin in the House, does not feel any such luxury.

         Gonzales outraised Herrera more than two-to-one in the first quarter of the year, and his fundraising advantage continues as the runoff approaches.

         The schism has tactical consequences in a sprawling district like CD-23. The seat, which already leaned Republican, was further gerrymandered in the 2021 redistricting: while Trump won by seven points in 2020, Abbott won by 10 points in 2022. (I know, not an apples-to-apples comparison. Still …)

         His Democratic opponent, Santos Limon, is a civil engineer and small business owner with lackluster fundraising; he reported raising less than $100,000 as of mid-February. The national Democratic operation has not yet gotten behind Limon, but, privately, some Democratic strategists agree a Herrera nomination would present a unique opportunity.

         If Herrera wins the runoff on May 28, the MAGA/America First wing of the party will be able to claim their trophy. But watch for the national Democratic party to throw some money into defeating him in the general.

         “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” quoth the first great Republican. The Texas GOP has, in one generation, gone from seeking out candidates like Tony Gonzales to declaring war against them.  

         Speaking of houses divided … Texas Monthly has a terrific story from Michael Hardy about the schism inside the Texas State Historical Association (publishers of the Handbook of Texas, among other endeavors) and the creation of the Alliance for Texas History.