At least 3 Republicans want to challenge San Antonio Rep. Tony Gonzales after censure vote

Medina County Republican Party Chairwoman Julie Clark and retired U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Victor Avila both told the daily they expect to run against Gonzales, a San Antonio Republican, in the primary.

Frank Lopez Jr., who ran as an independent in Gonzales’ district last year, told the paper that he’s assembling a team to explore whether he should run on the Republican ticket.

On Saturday, the Texas GOP voted to censure Gonzales over his votes to defend same-sex marriage and pass the bipartisan gun safety law that followed the Uvalde school massacre. Texas Republicans also targeted Gonzales for opposing a hardline immigration bill devised by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin.

Shortly after the censure vote, Gonzales — a two-term congressman whose South Texas district includes both Uvalde and wide swath of the U.S.-Mexico border — told reporters that he “would vote twice on [the gun safety bill] if I could.”

Even though Gonzales’ district was recently redrawn to be more red, his campaign kept up the defiant tone, issuing a statement to the Express-News predicting losses for his primary opponents.

“Anyone who laces them up against Tony Gonzales is running a fool’s errand,” a spokesman for Gonzales’ campaign told the Express-News. “He will take you into the deep end of the political pool and drown you. There is a reason why he’s won every election he’s ever been in.”

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This article appears in Mar 8-21, 2023.