The Texas GOP voted Saturday 57-5 to censure Congressman Tony Gonzales.
Gonzales, who represents District 23, which spans from San Antonio along the border to El Paso, voted last year in favor of gun control stemming from the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting.
It enhances background checks for potential gun buyers under 21. It also provides millions of dollars to states to implement red-flag laws, and it strengthens laws against straw purchasing and gun trafficking.
“I represent Uvalde. It’s only been 10 months. Everybody forgets about Uvalde. If the vote was today on the Safer Communities Act, I would vote twice on it if I could. The reality is the Safer Communities Act would have prevented the Uvalde shooting,” Gonzales told TPR earlier in the week.
Gonazles did not attend the state GOP’s censure vote at its quarterly meeting in Austin.
The censure resolution said Gonzales’ views violate core principles of the state GOP. It also noted that he did not support a hardline immigration bill and that he voted for a bill that safeguards same-sex and interracial marriages.
Gonzales told TPR he had no regrets on his votes and pointed to the fact that he has voted with the GOP most of the time.
“The reality is I’ve taken more than 1,400 votes, and the bulk of those have been with the Republican Party,” he said.
The censure can’t stop Gonzales from running as a Republican but it does allow the party to discourage him from running and limit the amount of support it provides him.
This was the second censure vote in the history of the Texas GOP.
Tony Gonzales, who represents District 23, which spans from San Antonio along the border to El Paso, voted last year in favor of gun control stemming from the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting.