This young Latino mayor went all in for John Cornyn. But Ken Paxton is a sore subject.

SABINAL — Erik Gomez, one of the youngest mayors in Texas, has modeled his budding career after Republicans like U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a man he admires and wanted to win reelection this year.

So the 26-year-old rising Latino leader used every ounce of his modest political capital to help Cornyn defeat Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary.

A year ago, the Cornyn campaign blasted a fundraising email with a plea penned by Gomez, who lauded the senior senator for his efforts to secure the Texas-Mexico border. In March, Gomez stumped on the campaign trail at an event where he told primary voters he wanted “to keep Texas red” and “if Paxton wins it won’t be.” In the final days leading to the May runoff, Gomez issued a starker warning about Paxton on social media taking aim at his various scandals that include an impeachment led by Texas House Republicans over allegations that the state’s top lawyer abused his office. He was acquitted by the Senate.

“He was doing right by Texas. But there’s some people you can’t make happy, unfortunately, ” Gomez said in an interview, of Cornyn’s 27-point primary loss to Paxton.

Voters like Gomez will play a crucial role during Tuesday’s historically competitive midterm election deciding which party controls the state and, potentially, Congress. They voted for a candidate who lost. As Latinos, they are members of Texas’s largest ethnic voter bloc. They identify as conservative.

And some of them really don’t like Ken Paxton.

After Cornyn’s defeat, Gomez began opening up to the idea of supporting Paxton. He at times defended the attorney general’s attempts to earn the support of Cornyn voters, revealing Paxton surrogates had contacted him to chat. But it remains a sore subject. Gomez has cast his ballot, but in interviews he refused to say how he voted at the top of the ticket.

Early voting tallies suggest Latino Texans are turning out in high numbers. What that means is yet to be seen.

Two years ago President Donald Trump won the Latino vote in Texas with a new record for Republicans. Those gains are at stake for Republicans, as an abundance of polls have documented buyer’s remorse among Hispanics amid an unpopular new war, high costs of goods and a punishing immigration crackdown. A swing back to the left could imperil Republicans up and down the ballot and establish a divided state government in Texas for the first time in 24 years.

“The challenge has been for Republicans, in the cycle, not to lose too many voters in a campaign environment that’s really not favorable to them,” said Joshua Blank, of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. “In an election like this, it’s going to be about a lot of tiny margins.”

Gomez, who is the top elected official of Sabinal, a conservative town of 1,300 people an hour west of San Antonio, considers himself a lifelong Republican — albeit a young one.

He has never seen so many people he knows personally vote for Democrats. One cousin who he described as, “far right” voted straight Republican with one notable exception — James Talarico for U.S. Senate.

It’s baffling and frustrating for Gomez who is among the Republicans who believes Cornyn could have easily defeated the Austin Democrat.

“This could have all been avoided,” Gomez said. “Had we, you know, been more careful with who we nominate.”

A young mayor

Gomez grew up splitting his time between Uvalde and Sabinal after his parents divorced at a young age, he said. He was a top offensive lineman on the Sabinal High School’s football team and remembers driving around with friends, playing in the park and hitting up Dairy Queen to pass time. At 18, he pursued a career in law enforcement. Gomez serves as a U.S. Border Patrol agent, however, he declined to talk about his law enforcement work for this story.

By 22, as he started dipping his toes into the chamber of commerce and local clubs, city council appointed him to fill a vacancy. He rapidly ascended to mayor pro tem and then was appointed temporary mayor, when the previous mayor stepped down. Gomez then ran unopposed for a full term, which he won in May.

At 24, he became the youngest sitting mayor in Texas at the time, according to recognitions he received, a feat Republican leaders celebrated in perhaps a sign of what the party’s future in Texas could look like. Cornyn recognized him with a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol. Separately, President Donald Trump wrote him a letter at one point. Gomez keeps both in his home, which was adorned with Halloween decor during a recent interview with the Tribune. His garage is filled with political campaign signs he once had on his lawn.

“Mayor Gomez represents the next generation of Texas leadership: bold, principled, and deeply rooted in the values that make rural Texas strong,” outgoing Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller wrote in his endorsements page, touting Gomez’s support before he lost his primary. “Sabinal may be small in size, but it’s mighty in spirit — and Mayor Gomez embodies that spirit.”

Gomez says he is just trying to do right by the people he serves in Sabinal, a majority Hispanic city whose tallest building is the water tower and has a downtown set for a facelift.

Most of his headaches, like mayors across Texas, come from problems like new potholes that need to be filled and limited funds that can only patch so many holes. The opportunity to fix things for the small town he grew up in drew him into politics.

“People can sit there and complain all day,” he said, sitting in his kitchen after work one day. “But if you’re involved, you actually have the power and the ability to make a difference.”

To many in town, the young mayor is getting things done for Sabinal.

One of Gomez’s first tangible wins as a new mayor was securing a grant for $50,000 to overhaul an aging playground in a park that did not have functioning lights, he said.

The revamped park served as the site for a recent national night out, where families gathered with their kids trying to win raffles for toys and bikes, playing on the renovated playground and slurping shaved ice off spoons dripping with multi-colored syrups.

Gomez walked around with his girlfriend, shaking hands and posing for photos.

“In high school, he used to always tell us that one day he’s going to be mayor of Sabinal,” said Ryan Reyes, a 26-year-old who grew up with Gomez. Their moms worked together at a pharmacy, and they became good friends after meeting each other as little children at a carnival. “I’ve watched him turn into a man. I don’t know how to describe it — he has just matured a lot.”

A Republican’s ruminations

Months after the primary, as Gomez mulled the future of Republicans in Texas, he was reminded again of Cornyn’s character.

The outgoing senator condemned a racist social media post from GOP nominee for railroad commission Bo French.

French, who has a long history of offensive social media posts, had shared a picture on X of South Asian students from the University of Texas at Austin, celebrating a Longhorns football victory with the caption, “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”

Cornyn suggested other Republicans should condemn French and later said he would not vote for him.

Gomez applauded the disavowment, but was puzzled that other top Republicans did not follow suit with equally stern castigations. While some GOP officials condemned French, few said they would pluck their support at the ballot box. Paxton said in a statement at the time he condemned all racism, but did not name French and instead attacked Talarico.

On social media, Gomez asked how he is supposed to pitch his party to his Hispanic-majority city.

“I also don’t know how to tell them to vote for our Republican candidates who refuse to condemn this racism. Fellow Republicans — send help,” he said.

After he voted early, Gomez told the Tribune he voted for French’s opponent Jon Rosenthal.

But his distaste for Paxton and French is contained. He remains a fan of Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump. In his home, he has a framed photo of former President George W. Bush, next to a bobble head of Trump; in between he has a stone with the Pledge of Allegiance etched on it.

Gomez wishes the Republican Party would return to issues that matter to voters, like affordability. And Gomez considers himself a moderate.

“I know that’s a very ugly word right now in the Republican Party,” he said.

He understands fears some conservatives hold about Islam, but questions how that is a more pressing issue than affording gas.

“2024 is a perfect example. You have the Democrats talking, you know, going crazy over trans rights, we had an open border, horrible open border,” he said. “2026 comes and, you know, we’re the ones that are out of touch with reality.”

Paxton and Talarico have tried to woo voters who might similarly find themselves in the middle. A day after Paxton unseated Cornyn in the primary, Talarico hit the road to highlight Paxton’s alleged corruption in a tour dubbed “The People vs. Ken Paxton.” The state representative began repeating the refrain, “I have a legislative record. Ken Paxton has a criminal record.”

Top Republicans tried to boost Paxton by preaching unity for the party ticket. Even state Sen. Angela Paxton, who is divorcing the attorney general over allegations of infidelity, told voters to support every Republican on the ticket. Meanwhile, Ken Paxton tried to cast Talarico as a radical who will threaten Texas’ prosperity.

Gomez said Paxton representatives contacted him but did not elaborate on the extent of conversations.

He is surprised by his Republican friends who are backing Talarico, but acknowledges that the Democrat has “swag” and has run a campaign centered on specific issues.

In interviews, Gomez was unwilling to discuss whether Paxton earned his vote. In a previous interview weeks ago, he said he planned to support Republicans in the important races.

By last week, he sounded less sure. During a telephone interview, someone knocked on his door. It was a volunteer with America PAC, Elon Musk’s super PAC that has invested tens of millions into boosting Paxton.

The volunteer encouraged Gomez to vote. The mayor told him he had already cast his ballot early.

Returning to his interview about whether Paxton had earned his vote, Gomez was resolute: “You can quote me on this: No comment.”

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