The Texas Republican Party can blame Rep. Tony Gonzalez
Republican US Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas on Saturday faced a rare potential criticism from his state party over votes that included backing new gun safety laws following the Uvalde school shooting in his district.
A censure from the Texas Republican Party would underscore how the two-year congressman’s willingness to break with conservatives on key issues during his brief tenure has enraged GOP activists and some peers alike.
That independent streak includes rejection of a sweeping House GOP immigration proposal across the US-Mexico border, which encompasses much of its South Texas district. He has also voted to defend same-sex marriage and was a resounding “no” to a Home Rules package after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy became spokesman.
Gonzales was defiant ahead of the vote to be held at a meeting of Texas GOP leaders and activists in Austin. He was not expected to take part.
“We’ll see how that goes,” he told reporters in San Antonio on Thursday.
In practical terms, censorship would allow the state party to get off the sidelines when Gonzales runs again in 2024 and spend money reminding primary voters of the reprimand. Passing a vote of no confidence requires a three-fifths majority of the state Republican Executive Committee. More than a dozen county GOP clubs in the Gonzales District have already approved local no-confidence resolutions.
Gonzales cruised through his GOP primary and easily won re-election last year in his heavily Hispanic congressional district. He first won in 2020 to fill a vacant seat held by Republican Will Hurd — who has also not shied away from breaking with the GOP and whose advisers say he is now considering running for president.
The potential criticism illustrates the intra-party struggles that continue to erupt in America’s largest red state, even as Republicans celebrate 20 years in full control of the Texas legislature and every statewide office.
Last year, former Texas GOP chairman Allen West resigned from office to raise a weak main challenge against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The state party also censured a former moderate Texas House speaker in 2018 for speaking out against toilet restrictions on transgender people.
After the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, Gonzales backed a sweeping and bipartisan gun violence bill signed into law by President Joe Biden. He is also the only Texas Republican in the statehouse or in Congress to have called for the resignation of the state’s police chief over law enforcement’s awkward response to the attack.
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