US Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) leads a news conference with members of the House Hispanic Conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 1, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst Reuters
Republican US Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas was censured on Monday in a rare move by the state party through votes that included support for new gun safety laws after the Uvalde school shooting in his 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 time in office has caused GOP activists and some colleagues to bristle.
His independent record includes opposing the House GOP’s immigration proposal on the US-Mexico border, which includes a large portion of his 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 was defiant ahead of the vote and did not attend a meeting of Texas GOP leaders and activists in Austin.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he told reporters in San Antonio on Thursday.
Gonzales spent the day working, according to Sarah Young, a spokeswoman.
“He spoke with veterans, visited with Border Patrol agents, and met with constituents,” Young said in a statement. “The Republican Party of Texas would be wise to follow their lead and do some real work.”
The vote followed an hour-long closed-door executive session, where party members were allowed to debate the resolution.
There were no public comments from members before or after the executive session, and the vote took place about a minute after the meeting resumed, followed by applause and cheers from committee members.
In practical terms, the censure allows the state party to come out of the sidelines if Gonzales runs again in 2024 and spend money to warn primary voters about his rebuke. Passage of censure requires a three-fifths majority, or 39 votes from the Republican State Executive Committee, according to committee Chairman Matt Rinaldi.
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 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 against Republican Gov. 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, which 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 because of law enforcement’s lackluster response to the attack.