With U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio) out of the way, GOP leaders are now rallying behind an outsider candidate they once tried to shut down in Texas’ massive 23rd Congressional District.
Two years ago YouTube creator Brandon Herrera came out of nowhere and pushed the seasoned incumbent to a runoff in his primary — striking fear into the hearts of Republican operatives who worried the newcomer could jeopardize a safe red seat.
Now Gonzales’ high-profile affair and withdrawal from the race has made Herrera the party’s de facto nominee, and GOP leaders are embracing a future leader they say embodies the party’s grassroots spirit.
“Brandon is strongly supported by many highly respected MAGA warriors in Texas, and Republicans in the U.S. House,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media Wednesday night.
Herrera, now 30, grew up in North Carolina, where his passion for unique and historic firearms led to a small gun manufacturing company that he would later move to San Antonio.
He got licensed to source parts so he could build guns to feature on his YouTube channel, and eager fans pushed him to start selling them.
“I’m a serial entrepreneur and business owner,” Herrera told a gathering of the Alamo Pachyderm Club in February. “… I never saw myself as a politician. I still don’t. I think I prefer the word statesman.”
But Herrera’s years of YouTube content ranges from the entertaining to shocking, and has long given Republicans pause about how he might represent their values on a national stage.
As recently as two months ago, Trump was still backing Gonzales in spite of rumors of the affair, and even filed a cease and desist asking Herrera to stop using his name and likeness on campaign material.
Unlike two years ago, however, this month Herrera finished first in the GOP primary with 43% of the vote.
Though it wasn’t enough to secure the nomination outright, party leaders pushed the wounded Gonzales to drop his reelection bid, scrapping a bruising runoff and making Herrera the presumptive nominee.
“I look forward to being the voice of TX23 that our district deserves,” Herrera said of the new dynamics. “From the border, to oil theft, water rights, data centers, and many other issues — it’s an honor to be chosen and together we will make Texas proud.”
He now faces Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, a 40-year-old teacher-turned-child welfare attorney, in a race Democrats are increasingly excited about.
Democrats turn to Katy Padilla Stout in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District
National Democrats are on the hunt for districts they could put in play for a potential wave election, and point to a left-leaning poll that suggests they could be within striking distance in the traditionally red district.
Meanwhile, Republicans remain confident that they can hold off an untested Padilla Stout.
“Texas’ 23rd District is deep red, and Democrats know it,” said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman spokesman Christian Martinez. “While they talk a big game in Washington, they don’t even have a credible recruit and are too busy defending their own vulnerable members across Texas to compete here.”
Speaking to the Pachyderm Club, Herrera also suggested there’s much to be learned from having run before.
“I had no political experience whatsoever. I had no idea what I was doing,” he said of his first race. ” … [But] my congressman, a Texas Republican, Texas conservative, voted with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi for a gun control bill, and that really didn’t sit well with me.”
Now having had that experience, Herrera told the crowd of about 100 people at the Schertz Civic Center, he returned this year a more seasoned and better-funded candidate.
“Even though Tony was a wounded candidate — not as much as he is now, but he was still wounded — he carried the vote in the general [election] by 20%,” Herrera said. “We can finally have the conservative Republican that we need, that we deserve.”
