TX dem prosecutor announces US senate run against Ted Cruz hours before resignation

05 September 2023

In a YouTube video published early Tuesday morning, Nueces County, Texas District Attorney Mark Gonzalez announced his bid for United States Senate. Hours later, he resigned from his position as district attorney, KRIS 6 News reports.

"I was such a threat, they tried to remove me from office," he says in the video, referring to state Republicans' "efforts to remove him from his elected office."

That's what inspired his 2024 senate run against U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to The New York Times.

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"Texans deserve a leader as tough as they are willing to fight for justice, even on the really cold and dark days because that's when it matters the most," Gonzales says in the video. "That's why I'm running against Ted Cruz, because the little guy needs someone to stand up for them."

Described earlier this month by the Times as "a former criminal defense attorney with tattoos across his body, including one reading 'Not Guilty,' whose name appeared in a Texas state police database of registered gang members," the publication notes that in the video "Gonzalez took the unusual step of emphasizing an element of his background that many candidates might have sidestepped: a drunk-driving arrest when he was 19."

According to Tuesday's report, "In the resignation letter, he said he had taken responsibility and pleaded guilty, then been dismayed to see the same charges dismissed for a defendant who, unlike Mr. Gonzalez, could afford a lawyer."

He said, "It dawned on me that the wealthy and well-connected have a different criminal legal system applied to them and accusations against them than everyone else does. My ignorance of the system was detrimental to my life and has been to so many others just like me."

Gonzales notes that before Texas GOP lawmakers criticized the way he did his job as district attorney, "I hadn't really had any more taste or want for politics. With the petition and some of the stuff that's been going on at least statewide, it just kind of — I don't know if the word is just angered me or incited me or something — and so I just decided that I don't want to represent or try to represent just Nueces County. I want to represent Texans that want change."

Watch the video below or at this link.

One of Us: Mark Gonzalez for US Senateyoutu.be

KRIS 6 News' report is available at this link. The New York Times' report is here (subscription required).

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