EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – It’s been a year since the Republican Party of Texas voted to censure him for supporting tougher gun checks after the Uvalde school massacre, and not backing an anti-same-sex marriage bill.
And though U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, has put that episode behind, his critics have not. Those issues are frequently cited on the campaign trail by the four fellow Republicans running against the incumbent in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District in the March 5 primary.
Gonzales is being challenged by Medina County Republican Party Chair Julie Clark; Second Amendment advocate Brandon Herrera; retired Border Patrol Agent Frank Lopez Jr.; and former Homeland Security Investigations Agent Victor Avila.
Top, from left: Frank Lopez Jr.; Brandon Herrera; Julie Clark. Below: Victor Avila left, and Tony Gonzales.
“Here’s Tony Gonzales in his native habitat. He’s trying to take away our guns,” says a satirical clip in Clark’s campaign page. She refers to him as a RINO (Republican in name only) and questions his commitment to the right to bear arms, the sanctity of life and Texas values.
“It’s time to take out the RINO and replace him with real American patriots,” ends the ad by Clark, who identifies as a participant in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Herrera said on social media he follows politics closely but did not set out to run for office, except that he finds Gonzales does not represent his values. “I don’t think he represents Texas’ ideals. He’s an establishment Republican that voted for Uvalde gun control […] He’s voted for a lot of things straight up against the party,” said Herrera, who goes by the online handle of @TheAKguy.
Avila first came into the public eye not as a politician, but as a decorated survivor of a drug cartel attack in Mexico that claimed the life of fellow HSI special agent Jaime Zapata in 2011. Avila suffered multiple gunshot wounds while on assignment during a Zetas cartel ambush in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
“The term we use in law enforcement is I have your back up, ‘I’ve got your six.’ I don’t feel the American people feel they have the backing or the support of their government,” Avila said last month regarding the Biden’s administration commitment against drug cartels and migrant smugglers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
He says that’s also the case in District 23, which includes 800 miles of border.
“I wouldn’t be running if the incumbent would have been at least doing a decent job. […] He has an R in front of his name, but he votes with the left,” Avila said.
Lopez, for his part, warns of a “globalist infiltration” of the Republican Party, naming names like Nikki Haley and showing a photo online of the GOP underdog presidential candidate with Gonzales by her side.
While not addressing the critics, Gonzales touts legislation he has authored or backed to end asylum claims abuse, improve Border Patrol agents’ pay, increase funding for local police agencies along the border and add more technology at ports of entry and at the border wall. He is a proponent of addressing the demand for workers in the U.S. by reforming temporary work visa programs
Read: Read More