{"id":19708,"date":"2026-03-07T15:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gonzales-is-out-in-texas-and-dems-see-a-chance-to-beat-the-akguy\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T15:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:02:12","slug":"gonzales-is-out-in-texas-and-dems-see-a-chance-to-beat-the-akguy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gonzales-is-out-in-texas-and-dems-see-a-chance-to-beat-the-akguy\/","title":{"rendered":"Gonzales is out in Texas, and Dems see a chance to beat \u2018The AKGuy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Democrats see a new opportunity brewing deep in the heart of Texas, where Republicans solving one problem may have inadvertently created a new one.<\/p>\n

Rep. Tony Gonzales\u2019 decision to drop his reelection bid<\/u><\/a> over an infidelity scandal has elevated Brandon Herrera, a controversial social media figure known by his handle \u201cTheAKGuy,\u201d to the Republican nomination for Texas\u2019 23rd Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Democrats in the district are hoping the convergence of scandal, a lightning-rod GOP candidate, signs of a major snap-back by Latino voters in Texas, and a potentially competitive Senate race could help lift Democratic turnout enough to flip this district for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely more competitive than it’s ever been,\u201d said former Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Texas), who held the seat through 2014.<\/p>\n

The biggest reason the race might become competitive is Herrera himself. The YouTuber, gun manufacturer and Second Amendment activist has millions of online followers<\/u><\/a> \u2014 and a track record of off-color, edgelord jokes that are ripe fodder for campaign ads. Herrera has come under fire for a long history of posting Nazi imagery and his involvement in a group called Sons of Confederate Veterans<\/u><\/a>. Jokes like his line \u201cI often think about putting a gun in my mouth. So, I’m basically an honorary veteran\u201d were a flashpoint for criticism<\/u><\/a> in his 2024 primary against Gonzales.<\/p>\n

Herrera did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

After Gonzales dropped out of the race on Thursday night, the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC quickly pumped out a barrage of old clips of Herrera on a series of podcasts including one where is seen marching and firing a gun overlaid with the German song \u201cErika\u201d associated with Nazi Germany.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

National and local headwinds are also blowing against the GOP.<\/p>\n

Republicans in Texas \u2013 usually the dominating force in statewide politics \u2013 have weathered a rocky start to the 2026 midterms. Sen. John Cornyn, a fixture of Lone Star conservative politics, is stuck in a bruising runoff election with MAGA firebrand Attorney General Ken Paxton, opening a possible path for Democrats to compete<\/u><\/a> in the Senate race. And Latino voters turned out in massive numbers <\/u><\/a>in Tuesday\u2019s Democratic primaries, an early sign that Texas Hispanics, after moving hard to the right in recent years, might be swinging back in a big way this election.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee that national Democrats will invest in the sprawling district, however.<\/p>\n

The heavily Hispanic district, which runs from suburban San Antonio hundreds of miles along the border to outside El Paso, is a tough lift for Democrats \u2014 but not an impossible one. In the newly gerrymandered Texas map, it\u2019s the least-red district held by a Republican in Texas. President Donald Trump won it by 17 points in 2024, but Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the district in 2016.<\/p>\n

At this early stage in the changed race, neither the House Democratic campaign arm nor its biggest aligned super PAC has yet to publicly announce a commitment of resources to flipping the seat.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee does not currently list the district as an offensive target but is closely monitoring the race, according to a person familiar with national Democrats\u2019 House strategy, granted anonymity to candidly describe strategy. The group gleefully highlighted Herrera\u2019s elevation in a statement on Friday<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the House Majority PAC, CJ Warnke, said in a statement that \u201cnothing is off the table\u201d when it comes to spending in the district.<\/p>\n

Herrera was already running a tough primary campaign against Gonzales \u2014 but the congressman\u2019s recent scandal consumed his campaign and forced him from his reelection bid. Text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News<\/u><\/a> and other outlets last month revealed new evidence of a sexual relationship between the member of Congress and a staffer, who later killed herself. Blue Light News has not independently reviewed the messages.<\/p>\n

Gonzales later admitted to the affair <\/u><\/a>with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, and late Thursday decided to end his reelection bid<\/u><\/a> as pressure mounted from Republicans leadership for him to step aside.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats argue Herrera has his own baggage that may be hard to overcome as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I’m just an old-fashioned East Texas farm kid, but I tend to be anti-Nazi, and I have a feeling that people on the western side of the state feel a similar way,\u201d said Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you know, go ahead and nominate the adulterer, sexual predator, or nominate the actual Nazi. Regardless, we outvoted them, and we’re going to do it again in November,\u201d he added, citing Tuesday\u2019s strong Democratic turn out in primaries up and down the ballot<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Herrera as the GOP nominee makes for “a little bit of an easier campaign because he’s not as well known as Gonzales,” said Katy Padilla Stout, a local attorney and the Democratic nominee who is now set to face off against Herrera in November.<\/p>\n

National Republicans were quick to throw cold water on their opponents\u2019 hopes to expand their battleground House map into West Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas\u2019 23rd District is deep red, and Democrats know it,\u201d said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile they talk a big game in Washington, they don\u2019t even have a credible recruit and are too busy defending their own vulnerable members across Texas to compete here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district, though drawn to favor the GOP candidate, is \u201cpretty moderate and they’re practical people,\u201d said Gallego, the former Democratic member of Congress. The north side of San Antonio at the far east end of the district map \u201cis not monolithic Republican anymore,\u201d he added, which gives Democrats more room to maneuver around Herrera, a conservative hardliner.<\/p>\n

After Gonzales ended his bid, \u201cI thought for sure it would be the Dems that would be blowing me up,\u201d said Padilla Stout. Instead, she recounted, it was mostly Republicans who got in touch shortly after the news broke.<\/p>\n

Their message to her: \u201cWe’re ready, give me a sign. Where do I sign up?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats see a new opportunity brewing deep in the heart of Texas, where Republicans solving one problem may have inadvertently created a new one. Rep. Tony Gonzales\u2019 decision to drop his reelection bid over an infidelity scandal has elevated Brandon Herrera, a controversial social media figure known by his handle \u201cTheAKGuy,\u201d to the Republican nomination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}