Brandon Herrera Just Scored a Big Endorsement and Now His Sext Scandal-Plagued Opponent Will Wish He Never Ran
Tony Gonzales stood in the aftermath of Uvalde in 2022, looked his constituents in the eye, and then went to Washington and handed Joe Biden the gun-control bill Democrats had been trying to pass for thirty years.
He was the only House Republican in the Texas delegation to join Senator John Cornyn’s betrayal — and his own party censured him for it.
Now, hours before his primary rematch against Second Amendment champion Brandon Herrera, the walls are caving in on Gonzales from every direction — and what Marjorie Taylor Greene just did could finish him.
Tony Gonzales Affair Allegations: What the Text Messages Actually Say
The affair allegations against Gonzales have been building since last fall.
Regina Santos-Aviles was his regional director in Uvalde — the same community Gonzales represented when he voted for Biden's gun grab.
She died after sustaining severe burns from, supposedly, setting herself on fire in her backyard in September.
“The last thing she said is, ‘I don’t want to die,’” People Magazine reported her mother saying at the time after she found her badly-burned daughter still alive outside her home.
This past week, the San Antonio Express-News published the texts.
Gonzales allegedly pressured Santos-Aviles for sexual photographs, asked about her favorite sexual positions, and described his own sexual fantasies about her — while she was his subordinate and she was married.
She told him twice he was going "too far."
The Office of Congressional Conduct is now investigating potential House rules violations, and at least four House Republicans have privately demanded Gonzales either resign or abandon his reelection bid before the primary.
Gonzales has refused to step down.
MTG called it what it is.
"Absolutely shocking and disgusting," Greene posted. "The entire story is and ended in his staffer, whom he had an affair with, setting herself on fire and dying. TX-23 has an easy choice!! Elect Brandon Herrera!!!"
Tony Gonzales Gun Vote: Why Texas Republicans Already Wanted Him Gone
The affair is the latest chapter — not the first.
In 2022, Gonzales was one of only 14 House GOP RINOs and the lone Texas Republican – in the House, this betrayal was in fact spearheaded by RINO Texas Senator John Cornyn — to vote for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bill that funded red flag laws, expanded background checks, and gave Biden the first federal gun restriction to clear Congress in thirty years.
Biden signed it the next day.
That vote, combined with Gonzales breaking ranks alongside 47 Republicans to support federal same-sex marriage protections, triggered a single censure from the Republican Party of Texas in March 2023 — the party citing multiple violations of its core principles.
Brandon Herrera built his entire public identity around the Second Amendment — he owns a firearms manufacturing company called The AK Guy, runs a YouTube channel with over four million subscribers, and has campaigned for two straight cycles on the singular argument that Gonzales betrayed his district on guns.
He came within fewer than 400 votes of beating Gonzales in their 2024 runoff.
This cycle, a new poll shows Herrera ahead by more than 20 points.
Disappeared Trump Endorsement: Why the White House Has Gone Silent on Tony Gonzales
Trump’s support for
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He originally endorsed Gonzales in December, giving him his "COMPLETE and Total Endorsement for Re-Election." And on February 17 – one day before the explicit texts became public – Trump re-endorsed him, calling him "terrific."
Then the texts dropped.
When reporters asked the White House last week whether Trump still stands behind Gonzales, the White House did not return the request for comment.
In fact, Trump recently reposted his full slate of active endorsements — and Gonzales was not among them.
That silence is the loudest signal in this race.
Tony Gonzales Resign or Run: What the Texas Primary Means for the House Majority
Texas' 23rd is Safe Republican on paper — Trump carried it by 15 points under the new district lines.
But a House majority that protects an incumbent who voted for Biden's gun grab, got censured by his own state party, and now faces explicit-text allegations involving a staffer who died by supposed suicide is a majority that has abandoned the voters who gave it power.
Herrera has the name recognition, the fundraising, the map, and now the MTG endorsement.
The primary is Tuesday.
This time, the texts are public, the White House has gone quiet, and the Second Amendment community that Gonzales betrayed in Uvalde has one more chance to make it right.
Sources:
- Gabby Birenbaum, "Trump sends cease-and-desist letter to Brandon Herrera," The Texas Tribune, February 12, 2026.
- Daily Caller Staff, "Exclusive: Poll Shows Brandon Herrera Overtaking Tony Gonzales In Key House Primary," The Daily Caller, February 13, 2026.
- KSAT Staff, "Texas' 23rd Congressional District heads into a high-stakes primary," KSAT News, February 25, 2026.
- Republican Party of Texas, "Resolution Censuring Congressman Tony Gonzales," texasgop.org, March 2023.
- Abby Livingston, "U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales breaks with House Republicans to vote for gun bill," The Texas Tribune, June 24, 2022.
- AP Staff, "Trump heads to Texas, where 3 supporters battle in the Senate GOP primary," Associated Press, February 27, 2026.
