U.S. House · Texas's 23rd District
Brandon Herrera
CandidateR
- Race
- U.S. House · Texas's 23rd District
- Result
- Katy Padilla Stout, projected winner
- Opponents
- Katy Padilla Stout (D); Ben Mendoza (IND)
- Research
- Basic
Party linenone
No recorded floor votes — not a current legislator in our records.
Said vs. did3 statements · 0 votes
fight for national concealed carry reciprocity and block any attempt to pass Red Flag laws or impose new firearms restrictions
Stricter gun laws
Compare statements with votes ›On the ballotU.S. House · 23
2026-11-03
| Brandon Herrera R | challenger |
| Katy Padilla Stout D | challenger |
| Ben Mendoza IND | challenger |
Led the March 3, 2026 Republican primary with 43.3% of the vote, then advanced to the general election after incumbent Tony Gonzales withdrew and the scheduled runoff was canceled.
Said vs. did
Each documented position next to the recorded floor votes we map to the same issue. Votes are compared one at a time; no overall stance is inferred from them.
fight for national concealed carry reciprocity and block any attempt to pass Red Flag laws or impose new firearms restrictions
Campaign issues page says he will fight for national concealed carry reciprocity and block red flag laws and new firearms restrictions.[5]
No recorded floor vote in our key-vote set maps to this issue.
ensuring education dollars follow the student, whether they attend public, private, or parochial school
Campaign issues page says he will sponsor legislation so education dollars follow the student to public, private or parochial schools.[5]
No recorded floor vote in our key-vote set maps to this issue.
ensure that America's daughters won't have their athletic careers stolen by woke leftists that force them to compete with men
Campaign issues page pledges to protect girls' and women's sports and opposes requiring female athletes to compete against transgender women.[5]
No recorded floor vote in our key-vote set maps to this issue.
Biography
Brandon Herrera, a Republican entrepreneur, Second Amendment activist and social media personality, lost the November 3, 2026 election for Texas's open 23rd District to Katy Padilla Stout. He started a firearms manufacturing business and built a large YouTube following. He narrowly lost the 2024 Republican primary runoff to Rep. Tony Gonzales and became the 2026 nominee after Gonzales withdrew from the runoff.[1][2][3][4]
Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.
According to his campaign website, Herrera has deep Texas family roots and Hispanic heritage, and both of his parents come from military families. He attended Campbell College, where he studied pre-law, before leaving to start a firearms manufacturing business.[3][2] His campaign website says he moved to Texas for good after the 2020 COVID lockdowns and brought his businesses and employees with him. The San Antonio Report describes him as the owner of a small firearms manufacturing company near San Antonio who is known on YouTube as The AK Guy.[3][6] As of the 2024 election he hosted a YouTube channel focused on firearms-related content with more than 3 million subscribers, and his campaign website says his content has accumulated over half a billion views. The site says he works with groups including the National Association for Gun Rights, the Firearm Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America and Young Americans for Liberty.[2][3]
Herrera challenged incumbent Tony Gonzales in the 2024 Republican primary for this district and advanced to a runoff, which Gonzales won on May 28, 2024, 50.6% to 49.4%.[2] In the March 3, 2026 Republican primary he finished first with 43.3% to Gonzales's 41.8%. Gonzales withdrew before the May 26 runoff, which was canceled, making Herrera the nominee.[2][4][6] He received 44.0% of the vote to Katy Padilla Stout's 52.1%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]
Campaign money$1.9M raised · 15% from individuals · FEC through 2026-06-30
Totals this cycle
Bars share one scale (raised = full). Cash on hand can include money carried over from earlier cycles.
Who gave
- Individuals $85K
- PACs & committees $63K
- Own money & loans $420K
Largest committee contributions
- Electing Majority Making Effective Republicans PAC PAC$10K
- First in Freedom PAC PAC$5,000
- Freedom Caucus Fund PAC$5,000
- The Eye of the Tiger Political Action Committee PAC$5,000
- Raptor PAC PAC$5,000
- Texas Red PAC$5,000
- Texas Values PAC PAC$5,000
- American Revival PAC PAC$5,000
- Buckeye Liberty Political Action Committee PAC$5,000
- Be Victorious Over Democrats PAC PAC$5,000
Direct contributions only; outside spending is not included. Individual donors are itemized in the FEC’s receipts. All itemized receipts ↗ FEC filing ↗
Profile: /people/brandon-herrera
Compare all 3 candidates side by side ›
Sources cited in this profile
- 1.U.S. House · Texas's 23rd District results 2026 · NBC News News report
- 2.Brandon Herrera · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
- 3.Meet Brandon · Brandon Herrera for Congress Candidate's own words
- 4.United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, 2026 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
- 5.On The Issues · Brandon Herrera for Congress Candidate's own words
- 6.Brandon Herrera | 2026 candidate for Texas' 23rd Congressional District - San Antonio Report · San Antonio Report · 2026-10-19 News report