‘AK Guy’ Brandon Herrera running to unseat San Antonio U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales. AGAIN.

Gun vlogger Brandon Herrera — known as the “AK Guy” to fans of his YouTube channel — has launched another primary challenger to take down Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, whom he lost to in 2024.

“I’m officially throwing my hat back into the ring to finish what I started and get a turncoat Republican out of office,” Herrera said during a dramatic 10-minute YouTube video posted Saturday.

Despite being outspent 10-to-1 by Gonzales last time around, Herrera came within 400 votes of beating the moderate incumbent in the Republican primary for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, which spans from San Antonio’s West Side to the outskirts of El Paso.

Despite his lack of political experience, Herrera’s 4 million-plus YouTube following helped him rake in small-dollar donations.

Gonzales went into the race a weakened incumbent after being censured by the Texas GOP in 2023 for supporting “liberal” legislation, including a bipartisan gun control bill and legislation codifying same-sex marriage.

Despite some conservatives’ frustration with Gonzales, Herrera’s campaign was hampered by a string of controversies.

In the span of a few months, Herrera sparked outrage by joking about veteran suicides, expressing doubt that then-former President Donald Trump could win a second term and posting a clip on his YouTube channel full of Nazi imagery and jokes.

While Gonzales picked up backing from high-profile Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Herrera’s most-visible endorsement came from then-Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Last November, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration to be Trump’s second-term attorney general and said he wouldn’t return to Congress. Weeks later, a House Ethics Committee report alleged he “regularly” paid women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and also accused him of purchasing and using illicit drugs.

In this weekend’s announcement, Herrera appeared confident he can get across the finish line in 2026 — even without the GOP establishment.

“They can’t buy me, because they can’t afford me. They can’t threaten me, because I’m not afraid of them,” Herrera said. “But they will attack me, because they’re afraid of people like me — people they know they can’t control.”

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This article appears in Aug 7-20, 2025.