Election 2024: Gonzales maintains lead in crowded Republican field, but runoff possible in Congressional District 23

SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales will have to overcome four challengers in the Republican primary if he wants a shot at retaining his House District 23 seat for a third term this November. 

He remains in the driver’s seat with 50% of the vote, but will have to maintain that number in order to avoid a May 28 runoff. With four challengers – most notably Brandon Herrera and Julie Clark – stealing votes, the night may might not end with an outright winner. 

The 43-year-old Gonzales is also going up against Frank Lopez Jr. and Victor Avila on Tuesday. Gonzales was able to avoid a runoff in 2022 after overwhelmingly winning the primary election that year, but he only faced two competitors that year. If no candidate wins at least 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to a May 28 runoff. 

Statewide, Gonzales also leads with 47% of the ballots. 

On the Democratic ballot, Lee Bausinger and Santos Limon are locked in a tight race. Limon has 51.3% of the vote to Bausinger’s 48.7% statewide, though Bausinger has more support in Bexar County. 

Four Republicans – Jose Saza, Lazaro Garza Jr., Jay Furman and Jimmy León – are vying to punch their ticket to the general election for Congressional District 28. Democratic incumbent Henry Cuellar is running unopposed. 

And, in Congressional District 35, Republicans Rod Lingsch, Michael Rodriguez, Brandon Craig Dunn, Dave Cuddy and Steven Wright are competing for the right to face Democratic incumbent Greg Casar in the general election. 

U.S. House District 23 encompasses 58,000 square miles in west Texas and is home to more than 778,000 residents, according to Census Reporter. Gonzales, the incumbent, is a 2014 graduate of American Public University and served in the U.S. Navy from 1999 to 2019. 

Gonzales is running for reelection in the 23rd congressional district for the first time since the Texas GOP censured him for breaking with the party over his positions on gun control and border security. The rebuke against one of their own means the state Republican Party doesn’t have to spend money to help defend his incumbency.

Among those running against Gonzales is Julie Clark, the former Medina County Republican Party Chair who was responsible for the measure to censure him. Also running: Brandon Herrera, a Second-Amendment activist on YouTube; Victor Avila, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agent; and retired Border Patrol agent Frank Lopez, who ran the campaign of Gonzales’ 2020 far-right primary opponent Raul Reyes.

The candidates largely agree that Gonzales doesn’t represent the values of the massive, sparsely populated district, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso. They point to Gonzales’ repeated refusal to play ball with his other Texas Republicans in the U.S. House on issues ranging from border security to the speaker of the House.

On the Democratic ticket are two engineers in Limon and Bausinger. Limon says he will fight to expand rural health care and increase the number of immigration judges; Bausinger supports raising the age to legally purchase a gun to 21 and creating a smoother path to citizenship for migrants. 

Congressional District 23 has not voted a Republican into the seat since Pete Gallego in 2012. 

>MORE ELECTION COVERAGE: