Newsmax’s John Gizzi was sad that a sex scandal would likely doom a Republican candidate in a Feb. 26 column:
It is the sensational and late-breaking news of Rep. Tony Gonzales’ relationship with a former staffer who subsequently killed herself by self-immolation that will almost certainly doom the Texas Republican in the primary on March 3.
A private poll conducted for primary opponent Brandon Herrera showed the Republican challenger, who came within 400 votes of deposing the two-term lawmaker in the 2024 primary, now leading Gonzales by a margin of roughly 40% to 20% among likely voters in the 23rd District (San Antonio-West Texas).
Assuming YouTuber Herrera (known as the “AK Guy” for his free-wheeling comments about gun ownership) survives the general election, there will be at least one significant difference in his voting record from that of Gonzales.
Where the incumbent is a strong supporter of U.S. aid to Ukraine in its four-year-old war with Russia, Herrera takes the opposite position.
So people should have voted for a philanderer who caused a woman to commit suicide simply because he supported Ukraine. We suspect even Volodomyr Zelensky would accept support under those conditions. Instead, Gazzi lamented: “Gonzales’ likely demise will represent the first defeat of a sitting Republican House member who supports Ukraine by an opponent who opposes aid to the embattled country.”