| Vicente Gonzalez | |
| Office: | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas |
| Term Start: | January 3, 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Rubén Hinojosa |
| Constituency: | (2017–2023) (2023–present) |
| Birth Date: | 4 September 1967 |
| Birth Place: | Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Lorena Saenz |
| Education: | Del Mar College Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (BA) Texas Wesleyan University (JD) |
Vicente Gonzalez Jr.[1] (; born September 4, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician who serves as the United States representative for Texas's 34th congressional district since 2023 and served as the representative for Texas's 15th congressional district from 2017 to 2023.[2] He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Gonzalez was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1967.[3] He went to Roman Catholic School in Corpus Christi for part of his childhood. In 11th grade, he dropped out of high school. He returned to school through a G.E.D. and enrolled at Del Mar Junior College, where he received an associate degree in banking and finance.[4] [5] In 1992, Gonzalez earned his Bachelor of Science in aviation business administration from the Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University on the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. In 1996, he graduated from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now the Texas A&M University School of Law) with a Juris Doctor.
As a newcomer to politics, Gonzalez declared his candidacy in 2016 for the United States House of Representatives in after Rubén Hinojosa, the incumbent representative, announced he would not run for reelection.[6] He won the Democratic Party nomination, defeating Sonny Palacios in the runoff election.[7] [8] [9] He defeated Republican Tim Westley in the November general election with 57.3% of the vote to Westley's 37.7%.[10]
Gonzalez defeated Westley again with 59.7% of the vote to Westley's 38.7%.
In 2020, Gonzalez's seat became unexpectedly competitive. He defeated Republican Monica De La Cruz by a narrower margin than he had in his previous two victories, with 50.5% of the vote to Cruz-Hernandez's 47.6%.[11] [12]
After Texas's redistricting based on the 2020 census, Gonzalez in November 2021 announced that he would run for reelection in the 34th district. The 15th district became more Republican but the neighboring 34th became significantly more Democratic.[13] The Texas state legislature put Gonzalez's residence in the 34th. The incumbent in the 34th district, Filemon Vela Jr., had announced earlier in 2021 that he was not seeking reelection, and would endorse Gonzalez regardless of where he ran. Gonzalez won the district's March 2022 Democratic primary. The Republicans nominated Mayra Flores. After Vela resigned on March 31, 2022, Gonzalez declined to run in and instead endorsed Democrat Dan Sanchez in the consequential special election on June 14, 2022, held in the 34th's older, more competitive boundaries. Flores, however, opted to run in the special election, and won with 50.9% of the vote to Sanchez's 43.4%. As a result, Gonzalez and Flores competed against each other in the November 8 general election, in which Gonzalez defeated Flores to become the next representative for the 34th District.[14] In the same election, Gonzalez's 2020 opponent Monica De La Cruz ran in and won in the redrawn 15th District, making her the successor to Gonzalez for that district.[15]
During the campaign, a blogger who received campaign funds from Gonzalez lobbed racist attacks at Flores, calling her "Miss Frijoles" and "Miss Enchiladas". He accused her of "playing the race card" and called her a "cotton pickin' liar" for having worked in cotton fields with her immigrant parents as a child. Gonzalez said he had never read the blog and was unaware of the blogger's racist commentary, and committed not to give any more campaign money to the blog.[16]
Gonzalez was re-elected in 2024. He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. He ran against Republican nominee Mayra Flores in the November 2024 general election.[17]
Before the Republican primary election, Gonzalez' campaign targeted the weaker primary candidate, Greg Kunkle, in hopes he would become the nominee and make Gonzalez' path to re-election easier.[18]
During his 2024 campaign, Gonzalez compared Hispanic Trump supporters to "Jews for Hitler," prompting criticism from Republicans in his mostly Hispanic South Texas district.[19] Gonzalez stood by his comments saying, "I don’t understand how Mexican Americans can vote for Trump. It’s clearly a vote against self interest. And yes it would be like the Jewish community voting for Hitler before the atrocities he caused. That would never happen. And Latinos need [to] wake up and see a tyrant on the horizon."[20]
Gonzalez was sworn on January 3, 2017.[21]
In 2017, Gonzalez introduced the Repatriate Our Patriots Act which allows U.S. military veterans who are not U.S. citizens and have been deported for certain nonviolent offenses to return to the United States.[22]
In January 2019, Gonzalez and other members of the bipartisan U.S. House Problem Solvers Caucus met with President Donald Trump in an unsuccessful bid to end the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.[23]
Gonzalez received the Order of the Quetzal in January 2020.[24]
In August 2021, Gonzalez joined a group of conservative Democrats, dubbed "The Unbreakable Nine", who threatened to derail the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package meant to tackle the nation's infrastructure.[25] [26] The group of Democrats stated, "We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law.”[27]
On July 29, 2022, Gonzalez and four other Democrats joined the Republicans in voting against a bill banning assault weapons.[28]
In September of 2022, Gonzalez introduced the Safe Zones Act which requires the U.S. State Department to "establish safe zones that accept applications for asylum from individuals who are nationals of (1) the country where that safe zone is located, or (2) a country next to the country where the safe zone is located."[29] [30]
As of January 2023, Gonzalez had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 97.4% of the time.[31]
According to the Lugar Center, Gonzalez ranked in the top 50 most bipartisan Members of Congress in the first session of the 118th Congress.[32]
Gonzalez's wife, Lorena, is a former teacher and school administrator from McAllen, Texas. His father was a merchant seaman who served in the Korean War.[39] Gonzalez lives in McAllen.[40]
Gonzalez is Roman Catholic.[41]
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