Moderate Texas Republican sees off primary challenge from ‘neo-Nazi’

Tony Gonzales said: ‘These people used to walk around with white hoods at night; now they are walking around with white hoods in the daytime.’ Photograph: Tom Williams/AP

Tony Gonzales, a moderate Texas Republican congressman, has narrowly beaten an insurgent primary challenge from an opponent he branded a neo-Nazi and was endorsed by the GOP’s far-right Freedom caucus.

Gonzales, 43, scraped home by a wafer-thin margin of 50.7% to 49.3% in a runoff election against Brandon Herrera after a huge fundraising effort and the explicit backing of the Republican establishment, including the House speaker, Mike Johnson.