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Brandon Herrera
Brandon Herrera (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 23rd Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 3, 2026.[source]
Biography
Herrera attended Campbell College, where he studied pre-law, before leaving to start a firearms manufacturing business. As of the 2024 election, Herrera was the host of a YouTube channel focused on firearms-related content with more than 3 million subscribers.[1]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the March 3 Republican primary for Texas' 23rd Congressional District as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Incumbent Tony Gonzales (R), Brandon Herrera (R), and Susan Storey Rubio (R) are running in the Republican primary for Texas' 23rd Congressional District on March 3, 2026. The filing deadline is December 8, 2025.
This is a rematch of the 2024 primary. Gonzales defeated Herrera 50.6%–49.4% in the runoff after neither candidate won a majority in the primary. The Texas Tribune's Owen Dahlkamp described the 2026 primary as "yet another proxy war between the more centrist Gonzales and the right-wing, fire-breather Herrera."[2]
Gonzales was first elected to the House in 2020. The Texas Tribune's Renzo Downey described Gonzales as "a centrist from San Antonio and U.S. Navy veteran."[3] Gonzales highlighted the following accomplishments and says he has delivered for the district during his three terms in office: securing funding to hire more than 100 police officers in the district, opening a South Texas facility for treating the screwworm livestock parasite, and appropriating more than $4.7 billion in funding for healthcare for veterans.[4][5][6]
Herrera describes himself as "an entrepreneur, Second Amendment activist, and social media personality" who owns a firearms manufacturing company (The AK Guy) and operates a firearms-related YouTube channel.[7][8] In his 2026 campaign kickoff, Herrera said, "It started to eat at me. Those things that I didn't like about D.C., about my congressman, they didn't change...as much as it's more comfortable to just look the other way, I can't bow out of a fight if I know I can make a difference. It's just not how I'm wired."[9]
Rubio is the owner and operator of a ranch. Rubio says she is "a woman of faith and a bold conservative advocate...raised with the tireless work ethic that characterizes the people of this district."[10] In her campaign kickoff video, Rubio said, "Your representative should represent you, not the D.C. establishment. Tony Gonzales is a spineless moderate who didn't do a thing to stand up to Joe Biden and the Democrats and hasn't lifted a finger to help President Trump."[11]
As of October 2025, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball each rated the general election Safe/Solid Republican. In the 2024 election, Gonzales defeated Santos Limon (D) 62.3%–32.7%. An Inside Elections analysis of the August 2025 redistricting in Texas calculated that President Donald Trump (R) won the 2024 presidential election in the new 2026 district lines by 15 percentage points, down from the 16 percentage points under the district's 2024 lines.[12]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Gretel Marysdatter Enck, Santos Limon, Gregory Lopez, and Peter White are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 3, 2026.
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Incumbent Tony Gonzales, Brandon Herrera, and Susan Storey Rubio are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 3, 2026.
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ezekiel Enriquez (R)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from RealClearPolitics, when available. We will regularly check for polling aggregation for this race and add polls here once available. To notify us of polls available for this race, please email us.
Election campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Gonzales | Republican Party | $1,508,588 | $463,895 | $2,503,680 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Brandon Herrera | Republican Party | $307,272 | $9,221 | $306,092 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Susan Storey Rubio | Republican Party | $418,519 | $418,519 | $0 | As of September 30, 2025 |
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Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2024
Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)
Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 23
Incumbent Tony Gonzales defeated Santos Limon in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 23 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tony Gonzales (R) | 62.3 | 180,720 |
 | Santos Limon (D) | 37.7 | 109,373 | |
| Total votes: 290,093 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 23
Incumbent Tony Gonzales defeated Brandon Herrera in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 23 on May 28, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tony Gonzales | 50.6 | 15,023 |
 | Brandon Herrera | 49.4 | 14,669 | |
| Total votes: 29,692 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Santos Limon defeated Lee Bausinger in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Santos Limon | 58.5 | 16,316 |
 | Lee Bausinger | 41.5 | 11,577 | |
| Total votes: 27,893 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Rocco Ciappa (D)
- Gregory Lopez (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Incumbent Tony Gonzales and Brandon Herrera advanced to a runoff. They defeated Julie Clark, Francisco Lopez, and Victor Avila in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tony Gonzales | 45.1 | 25,988 |
| ✔ | | Brandon Herrera | 24.6 | 14,201 |
 | Julie Clark | 13.9 | 7,994 | |
 | Francisco Lopez | 10.9 | 6,266 | |
 | Victor Avila | 5.5 | 3,181 | |
| Total votes: 57,630 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Herrera received the following endorsements.
- U.S. Rep. Eli Crane (R)
- U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R)
- U.S. Rep. Bob Good (R)
- Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller (R)
- Gun Owners of America
- National Association for Gun Rights
- Austin Petersen (R) - Commentator
- Kyle Rittenhouse - Conservative activist
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brandon Herrera has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Brandon Herrera asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Brandon Herrera, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
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You can ask Brandon Herrera to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@brandonherreraforcongress.com.
Campaign ads
View more ads here:
2024
Brandon Herrera did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Brandon Herrera campaign website, "About," accessed December 21, 2023
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Gun rights YouTuber Brandon Herrera to challenge U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales again in GOP primary," August 11, 2025
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales draws GOP primary challenge from Cotulla rancher Susan Storey Rubio," June 12, 2025
- ↑ Tony Gonzales campaign website, "Law Enforcement Backs Tony Gonzales," September 30, 2025
- ↑ Tony Gonzales campaign website, "MAJOR Screwworm Update," June 18, 2025
- ↑ Tony Gonzales campaign website, "Issues," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Brandon Herrera campaign website, "Home page," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ The AK Guy, "Home page," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ YouTube, "Brandon Herrera on YouTube - I'm Running for Congress," August 9, 2025
- ↑ Susan Storey Rubio campaign website, "About," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Susan Storey Rubio campaign website, "Home page," accessed October 10, 2025
- ↑ Inside Elections, "A Detailed Analysis of Texas’ New Congressional Map," August 27, 2025
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
