The Texas Republican Party on Saturday voted to censure Rep. Tony Gonzales for breaking with his GOP colleagues in a handful of votes.
At its quarterly assembly in Austin, the 64-member State Republican Govt Committee handed a censure resolution in a 57-5 vote, with one abstention.
The Texas GOP stated in a statement that it’s imposing the “full set of penalties allowed by the guidelines, for lack of constancy to Republican rules and priorities.”
“Rule 44 of the Republican Party of Texas permits the party to censure elected officers who violate Texas Republican Party rules and priorities thrice or extra in a given biennium,” the state party stated.
The decision, which required a three-fifths vote to cross, stated that Gonzales, a reasonable Republican, voted in favor of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — landmark gun laws that was written in response to shootings in Uvalde, which is in Gonzales’ district, and Buffalo, New York.
Gonzales was one in all 14 House Republicans who joined Democrats in voting for the package deal, which President Joe Biden signed into legislation final yr.
The decision additionally famous Gonzales’ vote in favor of legislation to protect same-sex marriage, and that he was the only Republican to vote against the House rules package for the present Congress.
The Republicans stated Gonzales, whose district covers a lot of the Texas-Mexico border, has additionally not expressed assist for the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023, a invoice that might enable the Division of Homeland Safety to show away non-U.S. nationals with out legitimate entry paperwork.
NBC Information has reached out to Gonzales’ marketing campaign for remark.
Penalties might embody the state party waiving guidelines and bylaws that mandate its neutrality in major contests and declaring that Gonzales is discouraged from taking part in the coming GOP major.
Nevertheless, party guidelines don’t enable for his elimination from workplace and so they can also’t cease him from operating for re-election as a Republican.
The unique censure decision was accredited by Medina County Republicans in February and was supported by greater than a dozen different counties in Gonzales’ district, in keeping with the state party.
Gonzales, a two-term lawmaker, was first elected in 2020, succeeding reasonable Republican Will Hurd, who didn’t search re-election that yr.
This text was initially revealed on NBCNews.com
