Texas GOP votes to censure Rep. Tony Gonzalez for votes on same-sex marriage, guns and border security

The Texas Republican Party on Saturday criticized Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, for his votes on issues including same-sex marriage, gun restrictions and border security, concluding that the votes violated priorities and party principles.

Gonzales, who represents Texas’ 23rd Congressional District that stretches from west San Antonio to El Paso, was criticized by the Medina County Republican Party last month for acting “against the core principles of the Republican Party of Texas.”

On Saturday, the 64-member Republican State Executive Committee voted in favor of the resolution, 57-5, with one abstention, at its quarterly meeting in Austin.

THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS MUST BE ACCOUNTED. GONZALES FOR HIS VOTES ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, GUN CONTROL

The resolution accused Gonzales of engaging in a “pattern of action that is manifestly contrary” to the principles and legislative priorities of the state party.

He called his votes for the Respect for Marriage Act, which established federal protections for same-sex marriage and intersex and was signed by President Biden in December, as a violation of principles preserves “self-sufficient families, based on one’s traditional marriage. natural man and natural woman.”

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Separately, the resolution targeted Gonzales, who represents a border district, for not supporting a key Republican border security bill in the House that would have stopped migrants from entering the US unless ‘ they can be kept or placed in accommodation. – Mexico type program. Gonzales had blasted the bill as “un-American” and argued it would restrict asylum claims at the border. He said it would worsen the ongoing border crisis and increase human smuggling.

“Instead of messing around with a bill that has a 0.00% chance of becoming law, we should be fixing the fundamental problems of our broken immigration system,” he said last month.

The resolution said the vote violated the priority of “securing the border and protecting Texans.”

The resolution also calls on Gonzales to vote against the House GOP rules package and to vote for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan gun control law written in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, which is located in Gonzales, and in Buffalo, New York.

The bill’s support for red flag laws, restrictions on gun owners and expanding background checks “violates our Second Amendment rights,” according to the Texas GOP.

Gonzales could now face disciplinary action ranging from lifting the ban on GOP state officials campaigning against him to cutting off financial support for his next re-election campaign. , according to party rules.

On Saturday, Gonzales fired back at the criticism.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, outside the U.S. Capitol as the House voted to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on June 24, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Today, like every day, Speaker Tony Gonzales went to work on behalf of the people of TX-23,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “He spoke to veterans, he visited with Border Patrol agents and met with voters in a county where he flipped from blue to red. The Texas Republican Party would be wise to follow his lead and do some work.”

Earlier this week, Gonzales defended his voting record.

“The truth is, I’ve taken almost 1,400 votes, and most of those have been with the Republican Party,” Gonzales said, according to The Texas Tribune. He also said he had no regrets. on his votes, including a gun safety bill.

“If the vote was today, I would vote twice if I could,” he said.

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Other critics of Gonzales’ positions praised the move by the state party on Saturday. Texans for Strong Borders, an advocacy group for border security, he said back the criticism “largely for [Gonzales’] against common sense border security legislation and his use of leftist smears to deny the work of members who are actually stopping the attack on our southern border.”