I’m Running For Congress

In the 1976 film Rocky, despite what people might remember, Sylvester Stallone’s character, Rocky Balboa, doesn’t actually win in the climax of the film. Instead, everyone is impressed that, despite going up against the current champion, this rough-around-the-edges everyman goes the distance, beating everyone’s expectations and almost winning.

In fact, it’s not until the rematch in Rocky II that Stallone’s character finally succeeds and wins the title.

Welcome to Rocky II, Tony.

My name is Brandon Herrera. I’m a serial entrepreneur, Second Amendment activist, content creator, and firearm manufacturer. Two years ago, I made the decision to run for Congress.

It was a terrifying jump into unfamiliar territory. But I did it because the congressman who represented me, Tony Gonzalez—even though a Republican—kept making bad votes that made no sense to me, like voting for Biden’s gun control, opposing border security, selling out American interests on behalf of other countries, and a bunch of other things that shocked me to learn a Texas Republican would vote for.

I wasn’t alone. Texas Republicans were so disappointed in him they took the almost unprecedented move of censuring him. But we still needed somebody to stand up to him. So two years ago, I made the decision to jump into the Republican primary.

For those who don’t know, a primary election is when voters of both parties get to vote on who’s going to represent their party in the coming election. So if your party’s representative was particularly bad—like mine was—you get the option to replace them. Statistically, replacing an incumbent who wants to run for reelection is very hard to do, but we gave it a shot.

What followed was one of the craziest 10-month journeys of my life: running for office in Texas Congressional District 23—one of the biggest in the country—against one of the best-funded members of Congress in the entire country. Long story short, we succeeded in our goal of taking him to a runoff. In certain states, Texas being one of them, if the incumbent doesn’t get above 50% of the vote in the primary, he goes into a special secondary election between the first and second place finishers. That meant all the challengers were off the board except me and Tony.

What followed was a brutal two-month runoff where I had all the guns and money of the establishment pointed directly at my forehead—over $10 million spent against me. I was outspent 10 to 1. All that money went into a campaign to essentially slander me where I live. I lost by about 400 votes—1%.

That is the map of an incumbent who was not having a good time. DC was panicking. Even the Speaker of the House came down and campaigned against me in a primary. You know what? I came away from it pretty optimistic, thinking that even though we narrowly lost, maybe—just maybe—it made a difference.

For one, we drained the DC establishment of millions of dollars they weren’t expecting to have to spend in this race. I was hoping it would be a wake-up call to Tony: half your district is very upset with the job you’re doing, and if you don’t start voting right, we can replace you. Like King Leonidas in 300 reminding Xerxes that he can, in fact, still bleed.

And it worked—just kidding. About three days after the election in November, Tony was on CNN arguing against deportations: “If the message is we’re here to deport your abuelita, that’s not going to work well.”

But hey, it was a nice thought, right? When these people win, they feel untouchable. They will continue to do favors for the people who kept them in office and vote for garbage without any sense of accountability to the people they hate and pretend to love when the cameras are on.

The truth is, these people only understand one language. The only way to stop them—truly stop them—is to win. I understand that now.

After the last race, I’ll be honest, I thought I was done. I gave it an honest shot and was happy to go back to my comfortable life—shooting guns, making content with my friends, and running my businesses. But I’m not going to lie, it started to eat at me. Those things I didn’t like about DC, about my congressman—they didn’t change. The things voters in the district were upset about—the reason so many were sick of their fake conservative congressman—didn’t change.

People in the political world kept telling me, “Oh, nobody wins on their first try,” even during my first try—which, I’ll be honest, kind of ticked me off because I was gunning to prove them wrong. Spoiler alert.

Knowing all the problems that made me run the first time were still there, I realized that if I gave up now, I’d be a quitter. I’d be giving up on the district and on all the voters who counted on me. All of you who gave to the campaign, who volunteered, who door-knocked. As much as it’s more comfortable to look the other way, I can’t bow out of a fight if I know I could make a difference. It’s just not how I’m wired.

Texas District 23 deserves a real conservative—not a cheap fake who plays one on TV, or sometimes weirdly just forgets to try. Somebody who actually understands and respects the Constitution—not just as a cheap line, but genuinely respects it. Someone who will vote not just to protect, but to enhance your gun rights—not vote to throw them away when it gets inconvenient. Someone who will actually put America first—not just say it while giving billions of dollars to foreign countries while America goes trillions deeper into debt. Someone who will actually vote to protect America’s borders—not just claim they will on TV during election season.

Texas deserves better than Tony. I’m willing to put my life to the side to stand up and take that fight. And if I can, I’d like to ask for your help just one more time.

Last time, I think we might have broken a record for the number of small-dollar donors in a congressional race. The number of you who were able to put together even just $5, $10, $20 blew away the DC professionals. I’m not kidding. After the race, I had conversations with DC types who do political data for a living, and they were in disbelief at what we put together. No big super PACs, no special interests, no foreign lobbyists—just me and you. They didn’t believe me until I showed them the numbers. We were able to raise over a million without playing DC games and begging people who definitely don’t expect favors in return.

But this time, I want to give them a fight they’re not ready for.

You can check out the campaign website and donate at brandonherreraforcongress.com to help with this fight. But first, before I even make that ask, I want to show you I’m putting my own money where my mouth is. Last race, I put about $150,000 of my own money into the campaign over about nine months—much more if you include opportunity cost. I’m planning on doing a lot more this time. To start strong, I’m going to be matching your donations in the month of August up to $100,000 personally, so we can blow this first month’s projections out of the water.

I hate that money is such a pivotal part of politics, but last time I saw exactly what happens when you don’t have enough. The establishment could barely handle us last cycle, and money and slander were the only two weapons they had. This time, if we keep the momentum up, they don’t stand a chance. I want them to be afraid—not like “I’ve got dirt on the Clintons and I’m about to catch a plane” afraid—but you know what I mean.

Last time we also did monthly giveaways for people who donated to the campaign—whether it was stuff made by us or invitations to me and Cody’s range days. And don’t worry: even though it hasn’t been announced yet, everybody who donates $5 or more to the campaign will automatically be entered in that giveaway. Recurring donors will be automatically entered in future giveaways as well.

It probably goes without saying, but to clarify: all campaign money will go directly into campaign ads, yard signs, TV, social media, Facebook (yes, Facebook), radio ads, banners, etc. I make zero dollars off this. I get no payment from the campaign, either directly or indirectly. And like I said, I will be personally matching donations this month, up to $100,000, just to kick things off—because unlike the DC types, I don’t need this.

I already have my dream job. I’d be taking a pay cut to take this job, but I’m willing to do it because I truly feel it’s the best way I can currently serve my country. Because that’s what it should be. It’s not a job. It’s not a way to get rich. It’s service. People forget that.

And I’ll take that pledge right now on record: when I’m in office, I will not be buying, selling, or trading a single stock. I support legislation to ban it while in office. Again, unlike the DC types, I don’t need insider trading to be successful. Although, if you’re looking for stock tips, I’d recommend doing what Nancy Pelosi does. I hear that tends to work out for some reason…

So yes, I am officially throwing my hat back into the ring to finish what I started and get a turncoat Republican out of office. I am tired of Republicans saying they’re going to fight for us and then, when the time comes to fight for something specific, they cave. They capitulate. They say, “I had no choice.” Most of them didn’t even bother to fight in the first place. They can’t buy me because they can’t afford me. They can’t threaten me because I’m not afraid of them. But they will attack me because they’re afraid of people like me—people they know they can’t control. You don’t spend millions of dollars beating somebody you don’t consider to be a threat. As the saying goes, you take the most flak when you’re over the target.

So if you’re tired of career politicians and corrupt insiders who are willing to throw your rights away the first chance they get for a check from big business or foreign interests—if you truly want to make politicians afraid again—I’d be honored to represent your voice.

Oh, and if you’re watching this and you are from the establishment, just remember: in the real world, there’s more of us than there are of you.