A South Texas congressional district that President Donald Trump carried by 15 percentage points in 2024 is drawing increased attention as Republicans and Democrats compete for the open seat.
Texas’ 23rd Congressional District is a sprawling district that stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and includes a substantial portion of the U.S.-Mexico border. The district covers 27 counties and includes both urban and rural communities.
The district was formerly represented by Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who resigned from Congress in April 2026, leaving the seat vacant.
The major-party nominees are Republican Brandon Herrera and Democrat Katy Padilla Stout. Independent candidate Ben Mendoza is also on the November ballot.
The race has drawn national attention as the district has been represented by Republicans since 2015. Trump carried the district with 57% of the vote to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 42% in the 2024 presidential election.
Herrera, who got his start as a Youtube creator, is a firearms manufacturer, and Second-Amendment activist, first ran for the seat in 2024, but lost the Republican primary by fewer than 400 votes to Gonzales.
Herrera announced in August 2025 that he would challenge Gonzales again. In the March 2026 Republican primary, Herrera received the most votes, while Gonzales finished second. Gonzales subsequently withdrew from the runoff and his reelection campaign, allowing Herrera to become the Republican nominee.
Herrera’s campaign platform focuses on border security, cutting taxes and government spending, reducing regulations, defending gun rights and imposing congressional term limits. His campaign also says he would co-sponsor a constitutional amendment limiting House members to three terms and senators to two.
The Longhorn Ledger recently spoke with Herrera at the Republican Midterm Convention, where he said that, if elected, he wants to address several issues facing the district, including AI data centers, the Big Bend border wall and water challenges in West Texas.
Herrera told The Longhorn Ledger that he has already “taken over the job as much as he can” since Gonzales resigned, leaving the district without a voting member in Congress.
“I don’t have a vote. I don’t have a committee assignment, but we’re advocating to the administration—we’ve got great contact with them—talking to House leadership, trying to figure out ways we can solve these problems so we can just hit the ground running when we win in November,” Herrera said.
Stout, Herrera’s Democrat challenger, is a San Antonio attorney and former teacher who is campaigning on issues including firearm regulations, the cost of living, and universal Pre-K.
Stout says she supports the Second Amendment but wants changes to firearm laws aimed at restricting access for people she considers dangerous, reported the San Antonio Report. She has said she wants to change the law to prevent people with known mental health diagnoses or recent crises from accessing firearms. She has also said she supports what she describes as “very moderate red flag laws.”
Stout has also said she supports a federal investment in universal pre-K to provide relief to working families. Her campaign platform calls for raising the minimum wage and requiring paid parental leave.
On immigration, Stout says she supports a “bold and bipartisan” approach that secures the border while “creating fair, humane vetting and reasonable pathways to citizenship.”
“When it comes to our country, we should treat anybody who is on American soil with due process. And it broke my heart and it is one of the reasons why I ran when I saw due process not being followed by this administration,” Stout told The Border Report.
March polling of the race by Public Policy Polling showed Herrera leading Stout 42% to 40%, with 18% of respondents undecided. The poll, conducted March 10-11 among 521 voters, was sponsored by House Majority PAC, a Democratic-aligned group.
The race could carry significance for both parties as they compete for an open seat in a district that has consistently elected Republicans in recent years. For Republicans, the contest represents an effort to retain a seat that has been in GOP hands since 2015, while Democrats are seeking to expand their presence in a district that Trump carried by 15 percentage points in 2024.
