Republican Brandon Herrera strikes a pose during a recent campaign event. Credit: Stephanie Koithan

The Republican and Democrat vying to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District in the U.S. House don’t agree on much — except that building a border wall through Big Bend National Park is a lame idea.

During a weekend rally in Austin, MAGA gun-rights influencer Brandon Herrera and his opponent, progressive Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, both advocated against plans to build a border wall through the park as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown, the Texas Tribune reports.

“I cannot think of the last time I saw this many people at a protest at the Texas state capitol, or any capitol, that was this bipartisan,” Herrera said during the demonstration. “Republicans, Democrats and Independents coming together to make their voices heard on something we actually agree on for a change.”

Meanwhile, Padilla Stout told the crowd gathered at the Capitol steps that protecting Big Bend, one the state’s most-treasured wildlife area, is essential for future generations.

“There is one thing that is really, really important to me as a mom, and that is to protect our land, and protect our rights,” Padilla Stout said. “Not just for today’s Texans, not for tomorrow’s Texans, but for the generations that come after that.”

Details about the status of the proposed Big Bend border wall remain murky.

The Big Bend Sentinel reported late last month that the Trump administration’s initial plans have been scaled back to a “surveillance only” barrier of cameras inside the park due to growing backlash from locals and conservation groups.

Indeed, Customs and Border Protection’s map of Trump’s “big, beautiful wall” now shows a large portion cutting through Ocampo Park and Big Bend National Park will use only “detection technology” instead of a physical barrier.

However, a section of wall slicing through Santa Elena Canyon Park is still depicted as a physical barrier.

Herrera and Padilla Stout are in a tightly contested and nationally watched race to replace disgraced Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who opted not to seek reelection after admitting to an extramarital affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles. She died after setting herself on fire last fall.

Democrats are hopeful they can flip the seat blue, arguing Herrera’s history of outrageous remarks on his YouTube channel won’t fly in a general election.

In online clips, the far-right influencer has poked fun at veteran suicides, marched to a Nazi propaganda song and bragged about owning a copy of Mein Kampf. Last month, a decades-old clip from Herrera’s college days resurfaced in which he promoted a Confederate heritage group.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...