WASHINGTON — A Texan who represents the largest congressional district along the southern border is the new chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, a group of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, who represents the largest congressional district along the southern border, was recently named chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference

  • The Congressional Hispanic Conference was formed in 2003 to address national and international issues affecting the Hispanic community
  • Gonzales said he believes Hispanic voters in Texas and across the country helped to secure victories for Republicans in the last election

  • He said the conference will not only support Trump’s hardline border security measures, but also push for expanding some legal pathways to immigration, and will also focus on tax reforms, as well as, regulatory reforms 

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, said he believes Hispanic voters in Texas and across the country helped to secure victories for Republicans in the last election. 

“You’re seeing gains all across the country with the Hispanic community voting Republican in many cases for the first time,” Gonzales said. 

The Congressional Hispanic Conference is a group of Hispanic Republicans that was formed in 2003 by Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Florida, to address national and international issues affecting the Hispanic community.  

The San Antonio Republican and Navy veteran is the conference’s first chair who hails from the Lone Star State. 

“You have to show up. Certainly, our members are in battleground districts. They’re in tough seats. They’ve won very tough races, and a big part of winning is you have to show up early, you have to show up often, and you have to deliver. You cannot just deliver rhetoric. You have to deliver real, meaningful things that help people’s lives,” Gonzales said. 

During the last election, President Donald Trump built on the gains he made with Hispanic voters in South Texas. He flipped a number of Hispanic majority counties along the southern border, including Starr County, which a Republican presidential candidate last won over 120 years ago. 

“We need to see what happens in the next five to 10 years. So right now, there was obviously a change in terms of political preferences. We don’t know if these changes in political preferences are changes that are going to stay overtime, and the important thing here is that both political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have not invested heavily on the Latino community,” said Jeronimo Cortina, associate professor of political science at the University of Houston. 

“If they’re able to maintain a level of engagement, as they will do with any other voter block, then they have a significant chance to win the Latino vote for one side or the other,” Cortina continued. 

Cortina said it is still too soon to say whether it is a lasting voter trend or the appeal of Trump and his message. 

“A message that was very direct, and the message that resonated due to the economic situation that we had with inflationary pressures. Now the big question is, if the Trump administration is going to deliver and if it’s going to deliver fast,” Cortina said. 

Gonzales, who is serving his third term in Congress, is not afraid to split from his party and has been criticized by the hard right. 

He said the Congressional Hispanic Conference will not only support Trump’s hardline border security measures but also push for expanding some legal pathways to immigration.   

“We have to secure the border. We have to make sure that our communities are safe. We also have to protect legal immigration, though. We also have to protect work visas, those that are coming over, doing it the right way,” Gonzales said. “We can both hold those accountable, these convicted criminal aliens that should be rounded up and deported, and we can also advocate to be that beacon on the hill that just everyone strives for.” 

Gonzales said that as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, other priorities include tax reforms, as well as regulatory reforms for the oil and natural gas industry. 

“Our members are all throughout the entire country, and we’re going to be involved in everything from the budget to budget reconciliation, you know, to passing meaningful pieces of legislation that I think are common sense,” Gonzales said.