YouTuber Brandon Herrera Leads Race For Uvalde's House Seat

Brandon Herrera, a gun-focused YouTuber who goes by "The AK Guy," has emerged as the frontrunner to represent a Texas congressional district that includes Uvalde, the Guardian reported Sept. 23. The Guardian describes the district as one devastated by mass shootings, and Herrera's candidacy is drawing scrutiny for comments he made online after a previous attack in El Paso.

Who Is Brandon Herrera?

Herrera built an online following making pro-gun videos under the brand "The AK Guy," a nickname stamped on T-shirts he wears in his content alongside images of semi-automatic rifles, according to the Guardian. The outlet reports he appeared at a campaign rally at Constantino's Pizza in Somerset, Texas, on Feb. 26, 2026, a sign his run has moved from online commentary into retail Texas politics.

What Did Herrera Say After The El Paso Shooting?

Three days after a white nationalist opened fire inside a Walmart in El Paso on Aug. 3, 2019, Herrera posted a video filmed in a hotel room, according to the Guardian. He told viewers his comments might sound "a little harsh" but insisted they were "data driven" and came from "a place of empathy."

He then said: "With these terrible mass shootings, you should be really glad that some of these people are using guns to do this … I think we are fortunate that these people are using guns," the Guardian reported. Herrera argued that had the El Paso shooter used a truck or a fertilizer bomb instead of a firearm, the death toll could have been higher. He backed the claim with two figures cited by the Guardian: an average mass-shooting victim count of 15, compared with 168 killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Most public figures at the time limited themselves to expressions of condolence, the Guardian noted. Herrera's video broke from that pattern while the attack was still dominating headlines.

What Happened In The El Paso Attack?

The gunman entered a busy Walmart in the border city on Aug. 3, 2019, and fired roughly 90 rounds within minutes, according to the Guardian. The attack killed 23 people and injured 22 more. The shooter used a semi-automatic firearm the Guardian describes as similar to the rifle depicted on the shirt Herrera wore while recording his response video.

What Does This Mean For Uvalde Voters?

The Guardian's reporting frames Herrera as the current frontrunner for a district that includes Uvalde, a community the outlet's headline links directly to the pattern of mass-shooting devastation shaping the race. For residents in that district, the practical stakes are straightforward: whoever wins will vote on federal gun legislation and represent constituents who have lived through the aftermath of mass violence in Texas.

The Guardian's coverage does not specify the district number, a primary date, or Herrera's opponents in the reporting excerpted here. What is documented is the trajectory — a gun-content creator with a large online audience translating that following into a serious run for Congress, appearing at in-person events such as the Somerset rally, in a district where mass shootings are, according to the Guardian, central to how the race is being covered.

What Happens Next?

The Guardian's report is part of continuing coverage of the district ahead of the 2026 midterms. A related Guardian piece cited in the same reporting, on survivors pursuing accountability from the gun industry, underscores that gun policy and its human cost remain the backdrop against which Herrera's candidacy is being evaluated. Voters in the district can expect the 2019 video and similar past remarks to keep surfacing as the race continues, given how central they are to the Guardian's framing of who Herrera is and what his candidacy represents.

For now, the clearest facts on record are these: Herrera has built his public identity around gun advocacy, he responded to a 2019 mass shooting that killed 23 people by telling viewers to feel "fortunate" that guns were used rather than another method, and he is, per the Guardian's reporting, the frontrunner in a Texas district shaped by that history.

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