Vicente Gonzalez | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Rubén Hinojosa |
| Constituency | 15th district (2017–2023) 34th district (2023–present) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1967-09-04)September 4, 1967 (age 58) Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lorena Saenz |
| Education | |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Vicente Gonzalez Jr.[1] (/vɪˈsɛnteɪ/; born September 4, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician serving as theU.S. representative forTexas's 34th congressional district since 2023. A member of theDemocratic Party, he previously representedTexas's 15th congressional district from 2017 to 2023. Gonzalez'sSouth Texas district stretches from theMexican border inBrownsville toCorpus Christi along theGulf Coast. Considered aconservative Democrat, Gonzalez serves as the co-chair of theBlue Dog Coalition.
Gonzalez was born on September 4, 1967, inCorpus Christi, Texas.[2] His father was amerchant seaman who served in theKorean War.[3] His mother was born and raised in Mexico.[4] He went toRoman Catholic School in Corpus Christi for part of his childhood. In his junior year, he dropped out of high school but later earned hishigh school equivalency (GED) certificate in 1985.[5][6]
Gonzalez afterwards enrolled atDel Mar College, obtaining anassociate degree in banking and finance in 1990.[7] He continued his education atEmbry–Riddle Aeronautical University on theCorpus Christi Naval Air Station, where he earned aBachelor of Science degree in aviation business administration in 1992.[2]
In 1996, Gonzalez received aJuris Doctor from theTexas Wesleyan University School of Law.[8] During law school, Gonzalez interned for CongressmanSolomon P. Ortiz. The following year, he established his law practice, V. Gonzalez & Associates.[7]
Gonzalez, a political newcomer, announced his candidacy for theU.S. House of Representatives inTexas's 15th congressional district in 2016 following the retirement of incumbentRubén Hinojosa.[9] He secured the Democratic nomination by defeating Sonny Palacios in arunoff election.[10][11][12] In the Novembergeneral election, Gonzalez won with 57.3% of the vote, defeatingRepublican nominee Tim Westley, who received 37.7%.[13]
Gonzalez sought reelection in 2018 and faced a rematch against Republican Tim Westley. He won a second term with 59.7% of the vote to Westley's 38.7%.
In 2020, Gonzalez's seat became unexpectedly competitive. He faced Republican challengerMonica De La Cruz and secured reelection by a much narrower margin than in his previous campaigns, winning with 50.5% of the vote to De La Cruz's 47.6%.[14][15]
Following Texas's redistricting based on the 2020 census, Gonzalez announced in November 2021 that he would seek reelection in the newly redrawn34th congressional district. The 15th district, which he previously represented, had become more favorable to Republicans, while the neighboring 34th became more Democratic-leaning.[16] The Texas legislature also placed Gonzalez's residence within the 34th district's boundaries. The incumbent representative,Filemon Vela Jr., had previously announced that he would not seek reelection and endorsed Gonzalez regardless of which district he chose to run in.
Gonzalez secured the Democratic nomination in the March 2022 primary, while Republicans nominatedMayra Flores. Soon after, Vela resigned from Congress on March 31, triggering a special election to fill the remainder of his term under the district's previous, more competitive boundaries. Gonzalez declined to run in the special election and instead endorsed Democrat Dan Sanchez. Flores, however, entered the race and won theJune 14 special election with 50.9% of the vote to Sanchez's 43.4%, briefly flipping the seat for Republicans. Gonzalez and Flores then faced each other in the regularNovember 8 general election, where Gonzalez won and reclaimed the seat for the Democrats.[17] In the same election cycle, Gonzalez's 2020 opponent, Monica De La Cruz, ran in and won the redrawn 15th district, making her his successor in that district.[18]
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.[19]
Gonzalez was re-elected in 2024. He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. He ran against Republican nomineeMayra Flores in the November 2024 general election in a rematch of their 2022 contest.[20]
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.[21]
During the campaign, Gonzalez compared Hispanic Trump supporters to "Jews for Hitler," prompting criticism from Republicans in his mostly Hispanic South Texas district.[22] 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."[23]
Gonzalez was sworn into office on January 3, 2017.[24] In January 2019, Gonzalez joined fellow members of theProblem Solvers Caucus in meeting with PresidentDonald Trump in an effort to resolve the2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown, although the effort did not succeed.[25] In January 2020, Gonzalez received theOrder of the Quetzal.[26]
In August 2021, he was among a group ofconservative Democrats, known as "The Unbreakable Nine,"[27] who opposed supporting theBiden administration's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package[28] unless theInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed.[29] In July 2022, he joined theRepublicans and four other Democrats in voting against a bill to banassault weapons.[30] TheLugar Center later ranked him among the top 50 mostbipartisan members of Congress during the118th Congress session.[31]
During the2024 presidential election, Gonzalez aired television advertisements in his district opposing the participation oftrans women in women's sports.[32] After the election, he railed against his party saying that he won't take their advice, called for the Democratic operative who playedpro-choice ads in his district to be fired and also criticized Democrats for being "lazy" and "out of touch" onabortion issues and urged the party to moderate its stance ontransgender policies.[33] In 2025, he was one of two House Democrats, along withHenry Cuellar, to vote in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which seeks to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports at federally funded educational institutions.[34][35] Later that year, Gonzalez was among 46 House Democrats who joined Republicans in supporting theLaken Riley Act.[36]
Gonzalez is the co-chair of theEl Salvador congressional caucus along with RepublicanAnna Paulina Luna and has aggressively promoted El Salvador's authoritarian president,Nayib Bukele, including on the caucus's X account by reposting calls to "impeach the corrupt judges" who impede the actions ofDonald Trump andElon Musk. His admiration of Bukele has sparked criticism due to Bukele's role in thedeportation of Venezuelans to El Salvador.[37]
For the119th Congress:[38]
Gonzalez's caucus memberships include:[38]
Gonzalez is married to Lorena, a former teacher and school administrator.[3] They live inMcAllen, Texas.[42]
He is Roman Catholic.[43]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 15th congressional district 2017–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 34th congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Communications 2025–present Served alongside:Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Administration),Lou Correa (Policy) | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 168th | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
