San Antonio, Texas: Katy Padilla Stout Wins 23rd District, Flips Seat From Brandon Herrera

SAN ANTONIO (Orbit Post) Democrat Katy Padilla Stout flipped Texas's 23rd Congressional District early on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, defeating Republican Brandon Herrera in a border district that Republicans had held since 2015 and that President Donald Trump carried by about 15 points in 2024.

The Associated Press called the race for Stout at 1:05 a.m. ET on Wednesday. She received 51.7 percent of the vote to 44.5 percent for Herrera, the Washington Examiner reported. In the later Associated Press count, Stout had 132,887 votes to 115,362 for Herrera, with 86 percent of precincts reporting. Independent Ben Mendoza ran third. Herrera conceded the race, News4 San Antonio reported.

The 23rd District stretches from northwest San Antonio across West and South Texas to El Paso, along a long section of the U.S. border with Mexico. It has leaned Republican in recent elections. Trump won the district in 2024 with 56.8 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris, and he won it in 2020 with 52.9 percent to 45.7 percent for Joe Biden, according to the Washington Examiner. The district was redrawn ahead of the midterms in maps upheld by the Supreme Court, in a process meant to favor a Republican winner, USA Today reported.

An open seat after a resignation

The seat came open after Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales dropped out of his reelection campaign on March 5, after a scandal involving a relationship with a former staff member who died by suicide in 2025. Gonzales resigned from Congress on April 13, while the House Ethics Committee investigated the matter.

Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights activist known online as the AK Guy, has more than 4 million followers on YouTube, where he built his following with videos about firearms and gun culture. Trump endorsed him after Gonzales dropped out. Herrera had forced Gonzales into a Republican primary runoff in 2024 and lost that runoff.

A target race for both parties

Stout, a San Antonio attorney and former teacher, was backed by national Democrats. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the 23rd District to its Districts in Play list in August and said it would invest more in the race, arguing that Herrera's controversial public profile gave Democrats an opening in the heavily Latino district, FOX 4 reported. Democrats highlighted past remarks from Herrera's videos and podcasts during the campaign, and the Republican Jewish Coalition had spent heavily against him in his 2024 primary run.

Stout will serve a two year term in the U.S. House. Her win adds a Texas seat to the Democratic gains on a night when the party won control of the House and the Senate.

Results remain unofficial until they are canvassed and certified.