{"id":2573675,"date":"2026-02-25T17:30:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brandon-herrera-says-gop-should-get-gonzales-to-exit-texas-race\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T17:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:32:45","slug":"brandon-herrera-says-gop-should-get-gonzales-to-exit-texas-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/brandon-herrera-says-gop-should-get-gonzales-to-exit-texas-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Herrera says GOP should get Gonzales to exit Texas race"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbrandon-herrera-says-gop-should-get-gonzales-to-exit-texas-race%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2573675&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>texas Rep. Tony Gonzales,the GOP incumbent in Texas\u2019s 23rd District,is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-would-japanese-intervention-to-boost-the-weak-yen-look-like\/\" title=\"How might Japan intervene to strengthen the yen?\">facing renewed pressure<\/a> too quit the 2026 race after a scandal involving a former staffer who died by self-immolation.His primary challenger, Brandon Herrera\u2014an outspoken Second Amendment activist and influencer\u2014told the Washington Examiner that Gonzales\u2019s behavior amounts to a resignation-level offence and urged House leadership to push him to suspend his campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Key points:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Gonzales has refused to resign as investigations by the Office of Congressional Conduct continue, amid revelations of inappropriate late-night text messages to the late staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Herrera, who challenged Gonzales in the 2024 GOP primary and lost narrowly, says the scandal cannot be ignored but plans to campaign on policy contrasts rather than personal attacks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; House Speaker Mike Johnson and othre GOP leaders have not yet called for Gonzales to step aside, arguing due process and the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The district, which was elected to in 2020 and leans Republican, could face risks for the GOP in the 2026 race if Gonzales remains the nominee; the March 3 primary will determine who advances to a possible runoff if no candidate wins a majority.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Brandon Herrera calls for GOP leadership to pressure Tony Gonzales to exit Texas race after House of Cards-level scandal<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2511691\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong> Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tony-gonzales\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11307\">Tony Gonzales&rsquo;s<\/a> (R-TX) primary challenger is calling on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/house\/\" type=\"category\" id=\"1250\">House<\/a> GOP leadership to pressure the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/generational-fight-in-massachusetts-democratic-senate-primary\/\" title=\"Generational fight in Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary\">scandal-tarred incumbent<\/a> into exiting the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11675\">2026 Texas race<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon Herrera, a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/second-amendment\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1043\">Second Amendment<\/a> activist and social media influencer, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> in an interview that Gonzales&rsquo;s behavior was unacceptable and a &ldquo;resignation-level offense.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4471758\/trump-state-of-the-union-wish-list-odds-congress\/\">Trump State of the Union wish <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >list faces long odds<\/a> in Congress<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4471768\/john-cornyn-warns-texas-primary-runoff-ken-paxton-jeopardize-gop-seat\/\">Cornyn predicts Texas primary runoff with Paxton and warns it will &#8216;jeopardize&#8217; GOP seat<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4471349\/democrats-drive-historic-early-voting-numbers-texas-senate-primary\/\">Democrats drive historic early voting numbers in Texas Senate primary<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I understand the hesitation to go through the cluster that would be a special election in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/texas\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"253\">Texas <\/a>and with a thin majority,&rdquo; said Herrera. &ldquo;But I think the bare minimum, I think House leadership should pressure him to at least suspend his campaign, because I don&rsquo;t think a man like that can continue to represent the district, not with his behavior.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Speaker <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mike-johnson\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"7043\">Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-LA) and other members of the GOP leadership have yet to call on Gonzales to step aside. Johnson initially told reporters the allegations were troubling and that he would talk to Gonzales, but it was &ldquo;too early to prejudge.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It has been reported that the Office of Congressional Conduct is investigating, as it has been for some time, and what we do here is we allow all the facts to play out. There is a sitting Democrat in the House right now who&rsquo;s under indictment by [the Department of] Justice for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3893106\/sheila-cherfilus-mccormick-doj-fema-funds\/\">stealing funds to pay for her campaign<\/a>,&rdquo; Johnson said, referring to Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) during a recent CBS interview. &ldquo;No one is calling for her resignation or her ouster from the House. We allow due process to play out. And what we&rsquo;re doing here is exactly what we do in every scenario.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Gonzales is defiant about not resigning, even as the scandal grows over his relationship with a former staffer who subsequently died by setting herself on fire last year. The staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, was rumored to have engaged in an affair with Gonzales at the time of her death. Gonzales denied the allegations, but text messages made public by Santos-Aviles&rsquo;s one-time husband show the congressman sent inappropriate, late-night text messages to the staffer.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4467526\/read-tony-gonzales-explicit-texts-late-staffer\/\">READ: TONY GONZALES&rsquo; EXPLICIT TEXT MESSAGES TO LATE STAFFER WHO SET HERSELF ON FIRE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The messages show Gonzales asking Santos-Aviles for sexual images and peppering her with inappropriate questions of a sexual nature. The revelation spurred calls for Gonzales&rsquo;s resignation from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A lot of people, in the beginning, didn&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; said Herrera. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t believe it either, because it sounded like something that was too far-fetched for <em>House of Cards<\/em>, but it&rsquo;s very it&rsquo;s quickly become clear that that&rsquo;s what happened, and it&rsquo;s the most recent text messages and the really releases from the husband have made this completely undeniable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Gonzales was elected to represent Texas&rsquo;s 23rd Congressional District in 2020. The seat, which spans a large chunk of the U.S.-Mexico border, was purple at the time, but has trended red as Latino voters have been swayed to the GOP by President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a>. Trump won it by 15 percentage points in 2024. Its borders are set to only change marginally after a mid-decade <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/redistricting\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"241\">redistricting<\/a> pushed through by Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/greg-abbott\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1373\">Greg Abbott<\/a> (R-TX) last year.<\/p>\n<p>During his tenure in Congress, Gonzales has staked out moderate positions on guns and immigration. Herrera said those positions mean Gonzales isn&rsquo;t a good fit for the seat, which is why Herrera challenged Gonzales in the GOP primary in 2024. He lost that race by roughly 400 votes in a runoff after neither candidate won an outright majority in the initial primary.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), right, speaks during a news conference on rising suicide rates at the U.S. Border Patrol, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mariam Zuhaib)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Herrera said he&rsquo;s relying on the policy contrast between himself and Gonzales rather than the scandal on the campaign trail. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In person and in the town halls that we do across the district, I&rsquo;ve actually never once spoken about this sort of thing,&rdquo; said Herrera. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something I&rsquo;ve ever used as an attack piece, as a hit piece on the campaign trail, I talked exclusively about the issues &hellip; Tony&rsquo;s failures to represent West Texas conservative values.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Yet Herrera admits the scandal cannot be ignored because it will affect keeping the seat in GOP hands if Gonzales is the nominee.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The man has completely abused his seat of power, and even the most die-hard, red conservatives, I think, would have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/check-out-these-three-exercises-to-build-the-best-glutes\/\" title=\"Check Out These Three Exercises to Build the Best Glutes\">hard time holding<\/a> their nose and voting for a man like that in the general,&rdquo; said Herrera.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the scandal and the increasing calls for Gonzales to resign, Herrera said no one from the White House, House GOP leadership, or its associated campaign arm has reached out.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4465386\/james-talarico-jasmine-crockett-texas-senate-election-primary\/\">DOES JAMES TALARICO HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO FLIP THE TEXAS SENATE SEAT?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to working with them to not only push forward the conservative agenda, but try to represent the district in the best way possible,&rdquo; Herrera said. &ldquo;No hard feelings, regardless of whether or not they supported me, it doesn&rsquo;t change my values, and it doesn&rsquo;t change my principles, and it doesn&rsquo;t change how I plan to represent Texas.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>With Gonzlaes refusing to resign, voters will have the final say at the polls on March 3. If no candidate gets 50% of the vote, the top two will head to a runoff.<\/p>\n<p><em>Rachel Schilke contributed to this article. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GOP urged to push Gonzales to quit TX race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3691,"featured_media":2573676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/brand-her.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[74588,14073,6203,74589],"class_list":["post-2573675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-brandonherrera","tag-gonzales","tag-gop","tag-texasrace"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/brand-her.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2573675"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2573679,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573675\/revisions\/2573679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2573676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2573675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2573675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2573675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}