Republicans censure Hispanic lawmaker in Texas

Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales was handed a vote of no confidence Saturday, an unusual move by his party in the state because of its support for new gun safety laws, following the massacre at the elementary school in Uvaldewhich happened in your district.

The Texas Republican Party voted 57-5, with one abstention, underscoring how the two-term congressman’s willingness to break with conservatives on key issues during his short term in office has angered Republican activists and some colleagues.

That independent streak includes opposing a sweeping House Republican immigration bill on the US-Mexico border, which includes a large portion of his South Texas district.

He also voted to uphold same-sex marriage and gave a resounding “no” against a package of House rules after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy became Speaker of the House.

Gonzales was defiant ahead of the vote and did not attend the meeting of Republican leaders and activists in Austin. “We’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in San Antonio on Thursday.

Gonzales spent the day working, according to Sarah Young, her spokeswoman.

“He spoke with veterans, visited with Border Patrol agents and met with constituents,” Young said in a statement. “The Texas Republican Party would do well to follow his lead and really get to work.”

The vote followed an hour-long closed-door executive session in which party members were able to debate the resolution.

There were no public comments from members before or after executive session, and voting took place about a minute after the meeting resumed, followed by applause and cheers from commission members.

In practical terms, a blackout allows the state party to sit out if Gonzales runs again in 2024 and spend money reminding primary voters about the reprimand. Passing a censure required a three-fifths majority, or 39 votes of the State Republican Executive Committee, according to committee chairman Matt Rinaldi.

More than a dozen local Republican clubs in the Gonzales district have already passed bans.

Gonzales won the Republican primary and re-election in his heavily Hispanic district by a wide margin. He won for the first time in 2020 to fill the seat vacated by Republican Will Hurd, who was also not afraid of voting against his party and, according to his aides, is considering a presidential run.

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