Moderate Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales has predicted that the GOP will lose its House majority this November due to its mistakes.
During his interview with Jake Sherman, Gonzales expressed frustration with his party, stating that the GOP has shot itself in the foot, adding that Republicans will lose its House majority for failing to address common problems of Americans.
Gonzales also praised Democrats for their better fundraising and messaging and criticized his party for poor campaigning tactics. According to him, Americans want to feel safe, be financially secure, see their children safe in school, and enjoy a better quality of life, which the GOP has failed to provide.
If Republicans do not change course immediately, Gonzales continued, the GOP will surely end up being a minority part in the upcoming times. He said that his party focuses too much on political gamesmanship during House gatherings rather than addressing real issues. However, he did not specify which issues he believes the Republicans should prioritize in Congress.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Delanie Bomar, stated that “we disagree” with Gonzales’s assessment of the Republican Party. In contrast, the spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Justin Chermol, agreed, stating that the GOP has become “out of touch” with Americans, which will hurt their chances of retaining the House majority.
The GOP is barely in control of the House, with 220 seats compared to 211 for Democrats and four vacant seats. Over the last two years, this slim majority has often led to Republican lawmakers crossing partisan lines during critical House votes. One such instance was the House vote to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when eight Republicans switched sides to vote against their own party’s speaker.
Since Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, many election forecasters have been predicting a Democratic takeover of the House in the upcoming November elections. When Biden was still in the race, he faced mounting pressure from Congressional lawmakers to call it quits as they believed that the presence of the 82-year-old candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket could also hurt their chances in their respective races.
Gonzales’s centrist voting record, particularly on gun rights issues, has put him at odds with many prominent Republicans, such as Matt Gaetz and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good. Both supported his primary challenger, Brandon Herrera, a gun-rights YouTuber, who lost to Gonzales by nearly 500 votes in the Texas 23rd Congressional District run-off election.
Gonzales has also repeatedly criticized Donald Trump for his involvement in the January 6 incidents but ultimately endorsed the former president’s candidacy for the November elections. His own congressional district is considered a safe Republican seat this year.
