There are still people who don’t see “YouTuber” as a real job. In fairness, it probably shouldn’t be, but it is, for better or worse. Many of those YouTubers, to their credit, take their reach on the platform and not just make money, but do some good.
Now, though, one of those who opted to run for Congress might just win against an anti-gun RINO.
I’m talking, of course, about Brandon Herrera, a guntuber who is now undergoing his second challenge of GOP incumbent Rep. Tony Gonzales in the 23rd district of Texas. Last time around, Herrera was outspent by a massive margin, and still only lost the runoff by a few hundred votes. It should have been quite the wake-up call for Gonzales, who came out in strong support of gun control laws in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting.
One would think that it would be enough to kick Gonzales into keeping his nose clean.
Well, he didn’t, and, as the Washington Post, of all places, noted, this latest problem for Gonzales might just end his political career forever:
Down the road from the site of one of the deadliest school shootings in history, the man known to his 4 million subscribers as “the AK Guy” laid out the singular reason he wanted to represent the area in Congress: guns.
“I’m [supposed to be] represented by a conservative,” the candidate, Brandon Herrera, told a few dozen people at a campaign stop here this week. So “why is my Texas Republican voting with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden on a gun control bill?”
Herrera, a 30-year-old firearms manufacturer, said he had been content rallying for the Second Amendment at statehouses and on his YouTube channel. That changed in 2022, when Rep. Tony Gonzales (R) — the area’s current congressman — became one of a few Republicans to vote for a federal gun control law inspired by the school shooting.
Herrera went onto challenge Gonzales two years ago, coming within 354 votes of securing the nomination.
Now, after another tragedy that has rocked this town in the South Texas scrublands, he may be better positioned to win the party’s nod.
Gonzales’s campaign in the last week has been rocked by allegations that he engaged in an affair with a longtime staffer, who grew up in Uvalde and then lit herself on fire outside her home here. The congressman has denied any sort of inappropriate relationship.
The allegations would be a lot easier to dismiss if there weren’t so much evidence for them.
The rumors surfaced shortly after a woman named Regina Santos-Aviles killed herself in the most gruesome way imaginable. However, as they were just rumors, most people largely dismissed them. After all, rumors are common in politics.
But then more and more came out, including a string of text messages that suggest Gonzales didn’t just cheat on his wife, the mother of his six children, with a staffer in violation of House ethics rules, but actually pressured her into behavior that put her marriage in jeopardy.
Before these allegations, all the stars were set to align behind Gonzales again. The RNCC backed him, as it did two years ago, and every major name in the GOP endorsed him, including President Donald Trump.
All of this despite Gonzales’s terrible track record on Second Amendment issues, among others. So much for supporting our right to keep and bear arms, right?
However, with these allegations and the supporting evidence in the public eye, things are changing. President Trump refused to renew his endorsement of Gonzales, serving as the biggest blow to his campaign, even as other conservatives flocked to endorse Herrera.
Look, I get that not everyone is going to be as pro-gun as I’d like, but I find it amusing how often the people who are willing to stab their constituents in the back over things like gun rights also turn out to be garbage human beings.
Tony Gonzales can’t be booted from Congress quickly enough, especially since there’s little chance of the massively red district electing a Democrat.
But it’ll be nice if an actual Republican represented the district.
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