U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, is standing firm as he prepares for probable censure by the Republican Party of Texas for earlier positions opposing the party.
The party’s executive committee will meet in a quarterly session on Saturday to examine a censure motion that highlights some of the prominent ways Gonzales has recently alienated himself from his party. Even with supporting a bill to defend same-sex marriage protections and a bipartisan gun law passed in response to the Uvalde school shooting in his district, he also voted against a border security proposal proposed by fellow Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy.
What exactly is a censure? Gonzales spoke to reporters in San Antonio on Thursday when asked about it. “Was there a censure? In my perspective, we’ll have to wait and see how Saturday’s vote goes.
Gonzales added, as he has in the past, that he had no regrets about approving the gun safety bill, which improved background checks among other things. He was one of only 14 Republicans in the House to endorse the bill, and the only one from Texas.
“I would vote again on it if the vote were today,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales will be absent from the meeting on Saturday. He stated that he will lead a congressional delegation to the Eagle Pass and Uvalde border crossings in Mexico on Monday. And on Thursday, he tried to divert attention away from issues on which Republicans are more united by attending a news conference to express his opposition to a San Antonio ballot item that would decriminalize abortion.
The attempt to condemn Gonzales is the most recent development in his brief but dramatic political career. It all started in 2020, when he won a primary runoff that necessitated a recount and then defied the odds to keep the GOP in power in the 23rd Congressional District. Because redistricting had made the seat more red for the 2022 election, he had to negotiate an unusual race that served as a referendum on his independent streak. He triumphed by a big margin.
Despite Gonzales’ vocal opposition to Roy’s border security plan, which would have given the secretary of Homeland Security authority to block border crossings and imprison asylum seekers while their cases are adjudicated in court, intraparty strife has not subsided.
The State Republican Executive Committee is about to examine the censure resolution Medina County passed last month and asked the state party to take up. Since then, fifteen more counties in Gonzales’ broad district have supported concurring resolutions.
On Saturday, the motion would need to be supported by three-fifths of the State Republican Executive Committee’s 64 members. If the resolution is accepted, the state party will be authorized to participate in Gonzales’ primary, including by utilizing its resources to inform voters of the censure. In intraparty disagreements, the party is usually required to remain impartial.
According to the state party, the only other time it allowed a censure using this mechanism was in 2018 against former state House Speaker Joe Straus. He was also a moderate from San Antonio.
According to the Medina County resolution, Gonzales violated party principles by supporting the gun law while voting against Roy’s border measure. Gonzales is also noted for his support of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage last year, as well as his lone vote against a set of new rules for the US House in January that, among other things, made it easier to remove the speaker and easier to raise taxes.
On Thursday, Gonzales mocked his opposition to the rules package, which was the culmination of lengthy negotiations with House conservatives to install Kevin McCarthy speaker. Gonzales described the rules package as “extremely inside baseball,” asking the reporter whether he understood it.
Gonzales stated that the Republican Party received the vast majority of the approximately 1,400 votes cast for him.
Gonzales defended his vote in favor of the same-sex marriage law last year, telling The Texas Tribune that it “wasn’t a tough vote” and that Republicans must accept same-sex marriage if they want to gain traction.
The Roy border measure has recently sparked the most debate. Gonzales has always opposed it, claiming that doing so would effectively eliminate asylum. Roy is not convinced.
As a result, Gonzales and Roy have formed a burgeoning rivalry, complete with veiled threats from allied organizations to submit a candidate to oppose Gonzales.
On Thursday, Gonzales continued his criticism of Roy while applauding his proclivity to support the Republican Party. Roy was one of just four Republicans to vote against a bill requiring studies of how President Joe Biden’s executive orders might affect inflation a day earlier. According to Roy, the concept should not have extended to “’emergency’ directives, which are one of the main sources of inflation.”
“Only yesterday, I voted to hold Biden accountable for inflation,” Gonzales said. Not all Republicans were in favor of ensuring this.
Gonzales will undoubtedly meet pushback from Medina County. Raul Reyes, who lives in the county west of San Antonio, is Gonzales’ opponent in the 2020 primary runoff.
