Tuesday night’s congressional debate between Republican Brandon Herrera and Democrat Katy Padilla Stout was largely devoid of the inflammatory rhetoric Herrera has become known for as a gun-loving YouTube personality.
But that’s not to say it was without fireworks.
Both candidates vying to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso, went on the attack early, even though both agreed that affordability, data centers and rural health care are priority issues for the border district.
Herrera, a gun-rights YouTuber known as the “AK Guy,” played up generational ties to South Texas and said he would cut taxes for working families to deal with the affordability crisis. He also argued he better represents the district’s conservative values than his opponent.
Padilla Stout, a child-welfare attorney, emphasized her four children and her past work as a teacher, saying she would help working families by pushing for Universal Pre-K and expanding Medicaid. She accused Herrera of being an out-of-touch millionaire.
Even though Herrera described himself as the owner of a manufacturing business and never mentioned his YouTube channel during the debate, Padilla Stout blasted the Republican’s history of sharing edgy content, including offensive remarks about women’s bodies and a joke about veteran suicides that has dogged both of his U.S. House campaigns.
Promoting hereallysaidit.com, a website her campaign set up to highlight Herrera’s past comments and online videos, she accused him of making light of Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School mass shooting, which took place in the district.
“My opponent is unfit for this office for a multitude of reasons, but there’s one in particular,” Padilla Stout said. “He went to the Robb Elementary three months after the tragedy that occurred there and fired a gun at child-shaped targets. He said things like, ‘That’s a kill shot.'”
Later, when moderators asked the candidates to discuss the Uvalde mass shooting, Herrera said he supported stationing more armed guards at public schools and accused his rival of lying about him shooting a video on school grounds.
“That’s a complete fabrication,” he said. “It never happened, and frankly, I would like an apology, because it’s slander.”
During her rebuttal, Padilla Stout apologized and acknowledged Herrera shot his video down the street from the school, not on the campus itself.
However, she turned the tables and asked him to recant what she said amounted to false claims against her, including that she wants to defund the police, that she supports catch-and-release at the border and that AI companies fund her campaign.
The pair briefly appeared to find common ground in their opposition to the Trump administration’s plans to build a border wall through West Texas’ Big Bend National Park.
Herrera, who’s been vocal in opposing the project, said he went to the nation’s capital to let GOP leaders know that both Republicans and Democrats in the district oppose a wall through Big Bend.
“I went to directly to D.C.,” Herrera said. “I met with the White House; I met with Homeland Security.”
However, Padilla Stout stated Herrera has said he still supports a “smart wall” in the national park, which would be similarly damaging to the environment.
“He is still on the campaign trail with Donald Trump and [Republican House Speaker] Mike Johnson, the same people pushing this agenda of building a wall in Big Bend,” she said.
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