In a San Antonio barbecue joint, House Speaker Mike Johnson presented a sharp divide between two congressional hopefuls in an expansive West Texas border district, framing the choice as between the G.O.P. nominee Brandon Herrera’s “common sense” approach and the “extreme” positions of his Democratic rival.
Until recently, establishment Republicans sought to depict Mr. Herrera as the unconventional candidate.
Mr. Herrera, a 30-year-old self-described gun-rights absolutist and YouTuber renowned for inflammatory humor, faced initial opposition from both Mr. Johnson and President Trump as he challenged Republican incumbent Tony Gonzales for a second term. Mr. Gonzales and his allies invested millions portraying Mr. Herrera as extreme, citing old videos where he made wildly offensive jokes, including describing a Nazi-era submachine gun as “the original ghetto blaster” and “Hitler’s street sweeper.”
However, a sexual misconduct scandal that drove Mr. Gonzales from the race—and subsequently from Congress—prompted top Republicans to rally around Mr. Herrera.
Mr. Herrera’s ascent tests voters’ tolerance for past comments, even those offered in jest, in an era when candidates’ online histories are permanently documented.
The dynamic also reflects the anti-establishment current animating both major parties. As congressional control hangs in the balance, national leaders have formed pragmatic alliances with outsider candidates—who, in turn, are now accepting support from the very establishments they previously opposed.
“After a brutal primary on all sides,” Mr. Herrera told reporters in San Antonio late last month, “the focus has to be bringing the party together.”
The district leans Republican—Mr. Trump carried it by 15 points in 2024—but Democrats believe Mr. Herrera’s polarizing profile could benefit their nominee, Katy Padilla Stout.
Mr. Herrera maintains he does not need to moderate, yet since 2024 he has worked to broaden his appeal. In 2024, he campaigned primarily on a gun-rights platform in a district stretching from San Antonio to El Paso along the border, including Uvalde, the site of the 2022 school shooting that claimed 19 children and two teachers. This year, he has traversed the district hosting town halls on veterans’ benefits, water scarcity, and data-center regulations.
His online history continues to haunt him. Days before Mr. Johnson rallied for Mr. Herrera and hosted a fundraiser, a resurfaced video showed the YouTuber directing crude, sexualized insults at a female gun-control activist in 2022.
However, Mr. Herrera argues that voters he encounters prioritize gas and grocery costs over his online record.
“The only people who have ever cared about that are either in the media or in D.C.,” he said in an interview with The New York Times, adding, “As long as I can convince voters that I’m right on the issues, then I shouldn’t have any problem winning their vote in November.”
A Minefield of an Online Past
The latest unearthed video features Mr. Herrera using graphic language that Democrats hope will discourage some Republican voters come November.
Recorded in July 2022, the video shows Mr. Herrera employing crude language to attack Shannon Watts, founder of the gun-control group Moms Demand Action, which was established following the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.
Ms. Padilla Stout has sought to draw attention to the remarks. At a recent gathering of left-leaning women in northern San Antonio, she paused to ask whether children were within earshot before recounting his comments.
“That is not the type of person you want making decisions for you and your children,” she said.
In the interview, Mr. Herrera dismissed the remarks as part of the comedic persona he adopts as a YouTuber. While he acknowledged he wouldn’t use such language as a political candidate, he declined to apologize.
“I know the difference between the way that you speak in a comedy performance, so to speak, and the way that you speak in a political environment,” he said, adding: “I’ve always toed that line perfectly fine. What they’re going to do is they’re going to pretend jokes are policy, and they’re going to purposely pretend that they don’t know the difference.”
Ms. Padilla Stout has also cited a video in which Mr. Herrera highlights his ownership of a 1939 English edition of “Mein Kampf,” as well as clips of him joking about Nazi atrocities against Jews.
Mr. Herrera vehemently denied being antisemitic in the interview, stating he owns an annotated copy of “Mein Kampf” as part of a historical book collection.
Yehuda Remer, a Second Amendment activist and longtime acquaintance of Mr. Herrera who is Orthodox Jewish, called the notion that Mr. Herrera is a Nazi preposterous.
“If Brandon was actually antisemitic, he wouldn’t have helped me along my journey, and continued to help me,” Mr. Remer said.
‘Much Calmer Than the Online Presence’
Hailing from North Carolina, Mr. Herrera amassed over four million subscribers through gun reviews, weapon demonstrations, and re-enactments of famous assassinations. He also founded The AK Guy, a company restoring historical firearms, and other ventures. He relocates to San Antonio in 2020.
The provocative humor that propelled his career also complicated his political trajectory.
During his 2024 Republican primary, the Republican Jewish Coalition, a pro-Israel advocacy group, invested millions amplifying an older Mr. Herrera joke that trivialized veteran suicides.
“Fools like Brandon Herrera who mock veterans do not belong in Congress or Texas,” a narrator said in the ad.
(In an interview, he called the idea that he does not support veterans “a disingenuous lie,” and pointed to fund-raisers that he and his podcast co-hosts have held for veterans’ causes.)
Mr. Herrera has cast himself as a conservative Republican, securing endorsements from the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.
He opposes foreign aid, including to Israel, “while the U.S. remains in debt.” He rejects all new firearms restrictions, including red-flag laws, and advocates significantly increased deportations, prioritizing convicted criminals.
While closely aligned with Mr. Trump, Mr. Herrera has diverged from the administration on occasion. He has lobbied against federal plans to construct a border wall in Big Bend National Park.
Mr. Herrera has garnered support from some previously skeptical Republicans, including San Antonio consultant Greg Brockhouse, who previously worked on Mr. Gonzales’s campaigns.
Mr. Herrera is “significantly calmer and more thoughtful than his online persona,” Mr. Brockhouse noted in an interview. Nonetheless, Mr. Brockhouse and other Republicans worry Mr. Herrera has yet to sufficiently court moderate voters.
“This ain’t a walk,” Mr. Brockhouse said. “And if anybody in Brandon Herrera’s team thinks it’s a walk, they’re going to lose.”
Do Democrats Have a Chance?
Ms. Padilla Stout announced her candidacy to prevent a gun influencer from representing Uvalde.
She has embraced center-left positions on immigration and public safety, despite Speaker Johnson’s assertion that she favors “open borders” and prison abolition. Her family hunts and owns firearms, she notes, but she supports age and mental-health screening measures.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently added the district to its midterm target list, citing Mr. Herrera’s “disturbing history of extremism” as making the seat competitive. Democrats also point to Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision not to replace Mr. Gonzales—leaving the district unrepresented since April—as evidence of Republican anxiety about retaining the seat.
“Why wouldn’t you call a special election?” Ms. Padilla Stout said at the July campaign event. “Because you’re scared you’re going to lose.” A spokesman for Mr. Abbott declined to comment on the governor’s reasoning.
But the campaign arm hasn’t yet put its money where its mouth is.
“I’m, like, in the most toxic relationship of my life” with the D.C.C.C., Ms. Padilla Stout, 41, said at the July campaign event. “I find myself thinking, ‘I don’t want your time and attention. I want your money!’”
The national party may have larger priorities. Republican-led redistricting in Texas has placed Democrats on the defensive across three party-held districts.
Some moderate Republicans on the fence about Ms. Padilla Stout argue she appears too left-leaning for the district, while Mr. Herrera may be too far right.
Amy Posada, who was a congressional staff member for Mr. Gonzales from 2021 to 2022, said that if Ms. Padilla Stout could show her that she would work with Republicans, and hear out conservative voters, “she’s got my vote.”
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