Democrat Katy Padilla Stout speaks during a press conference at the Bexar County Courthouse on Wednesday. Credit: Jacob R. Lopez

Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar on Wednesday threw their support behind San Antonio attorney and child advocate Katy Padilla Stout in her run to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District as a Democrat.

The endorsements from Giffords, a prominent gun violence prevention advocate, and Salazar, who has served as the county’s top law enforcement officer since 2020, are among the highest-profile yet picked up by Padilla Stout, a former school teacher and political novice.

Padilla Stout is taking on Republican Brandon Herrera — a Second Amendment activist and social media personality with a history of controversial statements — in the race to represent the district, which stretches from San Antonio’s West Side to El Paso and includes Uvalde, the site of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

During a press conference Wednesday in front of the Bexar County Courthouse, members of the former congresswoman’s GIFFORDS advocacy organization drew attention to Herrera’s statements as he seeks to represent a community still reeling after a 2022 mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.

GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown called out Herrera’s past controversies.

“He has made headlines for all the wrong reasons,” Brown said. “Nodding to neo-Nazis, mocking veterans’ suicide, funneling millions of dollars into shell companies to break campaign finance laws.”

Brown also took a dig at former U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican incumbent who dropped out of the race for TX-23 after he admitted to having an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide by setting herself on fire.

“If voters in Texas 23 are tired of their congressman making national news for all the wrong reasons, they need to run far away from Brandon Herrera,” she said.

Giffords was shot in the head during a constituent event in 2011, an attack that forced her to step down from Congress the following year to focus on her recovery. Since then, she has become a leading advocate for gun violence prevention and has endorsed candidates who support stricter firearm regulations.  

As Salazar voiced his endorsement for Padilla Stout, he also highlighted the scourge of gun violence.

“In Bexar County, we don’t have the luxury of treating gun violence like a slogan or online performance,” Salazar said. “Katy understands that public safety requires common sense.”

Padilla Stout told the Current that her run for Congress was inspired by her children and supported by mothers across the district.

“My goal has always been to help protect and promote happy, healthy families and to make sure that the most vulnerable members of our communities are not overlooked,” Padilla Stout said.

“Everything is about common sense. We know that we are not only leading the state but the nation in domestic violence, and we have to do something about it,” she added. “We have to do it in a way that uses a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.”

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