AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas faced rare potential criticism Saturday from his state party over votes that included supporting new gun safety legislation. after the Uvalde school shooting which is in their territory.
A censure by the Texas Republican Party will confirm how the two-term congressman’s willingness to break with conservatives on major issues during his short time in office has caused GOP activists and some colleagues to bristle.
That independent streak includes opposing the House GOP’s immigration proposal on the US-Mexico border, which includes a large portion of the South Texas district. He has also voted to defend same-sex marriage and outright “no” to the House rule package after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy became speaker.
Gonzales had objected ahead of the vote, which will take place at a gathering of Texas GOP leaders and activists in Austin. He was not expected to attend.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he told reporters in San Antonio on Thursday.
In practical terms, the censure would allow the state party to come off the sidelines if Gonzales runs again in 2024 and spend money to remind primary voters of the censure. Passage of censure requires a three-fifths vote of the State Republican Executive Committee. More than a dozen county GOP clubs in the Gonzales district have approved local censure resolutions.
Gonzales skipped the GOP primary and easily won re-election last year in a heavily Hispanic congressional district. He first won in 2020 to fill the open seat vacated by Republican Will Hurd — who also has not been shy about running afoul of the GOP, and whose aides are now considering a run for president.
The potential sensation reflects the intraparty infighting that continues in America’s biggest red state even as Republicans celebrate 20 years of full control of the Texas Legislature and every state office.
Last year, former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West stepped down from the job to mount a vague primary challenge to Republican governor Greg Abbott. The state party in 2018 also criticized the moderate former Texas House speaker who opposed bathroom bans for transgender people.
After the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, Gonzales supported the sweeping, bipartisan gun violence bill signed by President Joe Biden. He’s also the only Texas Republican in the statehouse or Congress to call for the resignation of the state’s police chief over law enforcement’s lackluster response to the attack.