# Brandon Herrera

Brandon Joseph Herrera (born November 20, 1995), also known as The AK Guy, is an American YouTuber whose videos primarily focus on firearms. Herrera was a candidate in the race to represent Texas's 23rd congressional district in 2024, but lost by approximately 1 percentage point to incumbent Tony Gonzales in the Republican primary.

## Early life

Herrera was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to a family originating from Texas. Both his parents are military veterans. Herrera attended Campbell University, where he studied pre-law, before dropping out to run his firearms manufacturing business. He moved to San Antonio in early 2021.

## Career
### YouTube

Started in 2015, Herrera's YouTube channel focuses on testing and reviewing firearms. Subjects of his videos include tests of antique and military weapons, such as the AK-47 and RPG-7; discussions about gun laws and politics; and a series recreating the assassinations of public figures, including John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
In 2016, Herrera announced he was starting a project aimed at creating an AK-47 rifle platform chambered in 50 BMG. He would complete it in 2024 as the AK-50.
Videos often feature guests who have served in the military; Herrera himself is not a military veteran.

### Politics

Herrera, a Republican, ran for the U.S. House to represent Texas's 23rd congressional district in 2024, citing a frustration in incumbent Tony Gonzales' votes and gun policy. In the primary, Herrera received 25 percent of the vote, while Gonzales received 45 percent; as no candidate received more than 50 percent, a runoff was held between the two, where Herrera lost by 400 votes. Herrera called for a recount, saying, "I don’t expect the results to change, but I feel I owe it to my volunteers, voters, and supporters to leave no stone unturned."
Several political action comittees from outside of Texas donated million of dollars to Gonzales' campaign against Herrera. AIPAC accused Herrera of having "glorified Nazis and mocked the Holocaust" in his YouTube videos. After the primary, U.S. Term Limits, a congressional term limits advocacy group, tapped Herrera to be their Texas chair.
Herrera has described himself as libertarian-leaning, often emphasizing gun rights and limited government, but has generally aligned himself with right-wing populists such as Jim Jordan, and far-right Republicans, such as Matt Gaetz and appealed to anti-establishment voters in the primaries.

#### Electoral history

2024 United States House of Representatives election, District 23 (primary) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tony Gonzales (incumbent) | 25,988 | 45.1 |
| | Republican | Brandon Herrera | 14,201 | 24.6 |
| | Republican | Julie Clark | 7,994 | 13.9 |
| | Republican | Frank Lopez Jr. | 6,266 | 10.9 |
| | Republican | Victor Avila | 3,181 | 5.5 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 57,630 | 100.0 |
2024 United States House of Representatives election, District 23 (primary runoff) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tony Gonzales (incumbent) | 15,023 | 50.6 |
| | Republican | Brandon Herrera | 14,669 | 49.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 29,692 | 100.0 |

## Criticism

Herrera's content often contains self-described dark and politically incorrect humor. He co-hosts a podcast with several veterans that includes "offensive commentary or repeats racist stereotypes", such as an episode where he joked he was essentially a military veteran because he "often [thought] about putting a gun in [his] mouth". Tony Gonzales, who had served in the United States Navy, criticized Herrera, saying that there was a "special place in hell for scum and villainy who mock veteran suicide".
His YouTube videos have incorporated Nazi imagery and jokes about Nazis and the Holocaust. In one 2022 video, he sarcastically referred to the MP 40, a submachine gun developed by Nazi Germany, as the "original ghetto blaster", and goose stepped to "Erika", a German marching song used by the modern-day far right. Another video featured the flag of Rhodesia, a symbol co-opted by white nationalists. Herrera responded to criticism, saying, "This should be obvious, but I am not, nor have I never been a neo-Nazi."
Since at least 2013, Herrera has also been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a neo-Confederate organization that promotes the Lost Cause and has ties to white supremacist groups. He appeared in welcome videos produced by the organization, where he referred to the American Civil War varyingly as the "War of Northern Aggression" and the "War for Southern Independence", and advertised the group's "annual Yankee shoot", where members used antique rifles to shoot at "posters of [their] favorite Yankees".