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Brandon Herrera, Republican candidate for Texas\u2019 23rd Congressional District, speaks at a campaign event at the Angry Elephant in San Antonio on March 14, 2024. Credit: Texas Tribune \/ Christopher Lee<\/p>\nBrandon Herrera, Republican candidate for Texas\u2019 23rd Congressional District, speaks at a campaign event at the Angry Elephant in San Antonio on March 14, 2024. Credit: Texas Tribune \/ Christopher Lee<\/p>\n
A lawyer representing President Donald Trump last month sent a cease-and-desist letter instructing Brandon Herrera, a Republican candidate in Texas\u2019 23rd Congressional District, to stop using the president\u2019s image and likeness in campaign materials.<\/p>\n
The letter<\/a>, which was obtained by The Texas Tribune, was sent Jan. 27 to Herrera and his joint fundraising committee by Jesse Franklin-Murdock, a California lawyer at the Dhillon Law Group, a firm which has often represented Trump in legal matters. Franklin-Murdock, identifying himself as a representative of the president and Never Surrender, Inc., Trump\u2019s leadership PAC, accuses Herrera of sending a deceptive mailer with Trump\u2019s image on it.<\/p>\n Trump has endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, in the uber-competitive Republican primary for the district. The mailer, according to the cease-and-desist letter, creates a false impression of Trump\u2019s position in the race by depicting Herrera and Trump in side-by-side images that are edited to appear as if the two are posing together. It was sent out by the Brandon Herrera Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee between Herrera\u2019s campaign and his leadership PAC.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mailer described above is inconsistent with President Trump\u2019s unequivocal endorsement of Congressman Gonzalez [sic], and it is likely to confuse voters with respect to President Trump\u2019s preferred candidate in the primary election,\u201d the letter says. \u201cIn short, the Committee\u2019s mailer uses President Trump\u2019s image and likeness in a deceptive manner that is contrary to President Trump\u2019s stated position regarding the primary election.\u201d<\/p>\n While Trump frequently weighs in on primaries in Texas via endorsements, the cease-and-desist letter represents a rare \u2014 though not unprecedented \u2014 legal action against a Republican candidate.<\/p>\n Herrera, a gun rights activist and YouTuber, challenged Gonzales in 2024. The contest went to a runoff, where Gonzales bested<\/a> Herrera by under 400 votes in one of the closest primary races in the country. In August, Herrera launched his second attempt to oust Gonzales.<\/p>\n In a statement, Herrera\u2019s campaign manager blasted Gonzales for voting to create the House\u2019s Jan. 6 Commission and hosting then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley in his district, but did not address the cease-and-desist letter.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s only one candidate in this race who has supported President Trump from the beginning, and that\u2019s Brandon Herrera,\u201d Kimmie Gonzalez, Herrera\u2019s campaign manager, said.<\/p>\n The district, which contains a slice of San Antonio and runs along the border in West and South Texas, is the largest by land area in the state. Trump endorsed<\/a> Gonzales, a Navy veteran who has represented the district since 2021, in December, calling him a \u201cterrific Representative.\u201d<\/p>\n The cease-and-desist letter says the mailer, entitled \u201cBrandon Herrera\u2019s Town Hall Schedule\u201d contains images of Herrera and Trump against a mountainous backdrop in its left third.<\/p>\n Franklin-Murdock tells Herrera to cease misusing Trump\u2019s image and likeness immediately, and warns that continuing to do so could invite legal consequences.<\/p>\n In a statement, Franklin-Murdock said he would \u201cuse every lawful means to protect his supporters from attempts by Herrera and others to deceive them.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump campaign has used cease-and-desist letters before to go after opponents or groups out of the president\u2019s favor. His campaign ordered<\/a> the Loudoun County GOP in Virginia to stop selling merchandise depicting Trump after his 2024 assasination attempt and took issue<\/a> with former Rep. Bob Good for using the president\u2019s name on yard signs after Trump had endorsed against him. In 2021, shortly after leaving office, his attorneys asked<\/a> three Republican organizations to stop using his name and likeness on their merchandise and in fundraising appeals.<\/p>\n Trump-Herrera-cease-and-desist-letter<\/a>Download<\/a><\/p>\n This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tMAGA congressional candidate Brandon Herrera\u2019s jab came in an email boasting that his campaign has raised $1.1 million since August. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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