Texas Republicans may censure Rep. Gonzales over his votes on same-sex marriage, gun control

Texas Republican Party officials will meet this weekend to consider a resolution that would censure Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, for breaking with the party on same-sex marriage, gun control, immigration and other issues. 

Gonzalez, a moderate who represents Texas’ 23rd Congressional District stretching from western San Antonio to El Paso, was censured by the Medina County Republican Party last month for taking actions “in opposition to the core principles of the Republican Party of Texas.” The 64-member State Republican Executive Committee will gather for its quarterly meeting in Austin on Saturday and vote on the resolution. 

The impending vote was first reported by the San Antonio Report, a nonprofit local news organization.  

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In their complaint, Medina County Republicans accused Gonzales of engaging in a “pattern of action demonstrably opposed” to the state party’s principles and legislative priorities. The censure resolution cites Gonzales’ votes in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which established federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriage and repealed the 1994 Defense of Marriage Act. President Biden signed the legislation into law in December. 

The Medina County GOP said Gonzales’ votes violated the Texas Republican Party’s sixth core principle, which seeks to preserve “self-sufficient families, founded on the traditional marriage of a natural man and a natural woman.” 

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The resolution also calls out Gonzales for voting against the House GOP rules package, for failing to support border security legislation that is backed by every other Texas representative, and for voting in favor of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — a bipartisan gun control law that was written in response to the mass shootings in Uvalde, which is in Gonzales’ district, and in Buffalo, New York. 

Medina County Republicans said Gonzales “has been a poor representative for his Republican constituents.” 

Gonzales’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Three-fifths of the State Republican Executive Committee must vote in favor of the resolution to censure Gonzales. If the resolution passes, Gonzales could face disciplinary action ranging from lifting the restriction on state GOP officials campaigning against him to cutting off financial support for his next re-election campaign, according to party rules.