This article is published in partnership with El Paso Herald Post
El Paso’s second congressman, Tony Gonzales (R-23), returned $5,800 of campaign contributions to Woody Hunt after losing the 2021 redistricting battle to move the airport and Fort Bliss into his district. Hunt Military Communities is one of the nation’s largest private military developers and rental property managers.
During the 2021 congressional redistricting hearings, Gonzales lobbied aggressively to take the El Paso International Airport and Fort Bliss out of Veronica Escobar’s district and move into his district. Woody Hunt pushed to keep the army base and the airport where it was.
In returning the campaign funds, Gonzales demanded that Congress investigate “corrupt organizations like Hunt Companies who prey on American soldiers, sailors, airman, and marines.” Gonzalez was referring to the $500,000 settlement Hunt Companies agreed to in 2022 to settle a fraud case involving Dover Air Force Base. Hunt Companies was accused of “submitting false information to the Air Force about the completion of work orders between January 2013 and June 2016 in order to get higher performance incentive payouts.” Former Hunt employee Christine Kibler had filed a whistleblower complaint against Hunt for reporting work as completed when it had not been resolved. In a statement at the time, Hunt Companies denied that the settlement was an admission of liability.
Earlier this year, the Texas legislature attempted to pass new congressional redistricting maps during the first special session ordered by Texas governor Greg Abbott. The first set of redistricting maps removed the Airport and Fort Bliss from Escobar’s district like in 2021. The redistricting effort failed after the Democrats left the state to break quorum, ending the first redistricting attempt. After fines and threats of arrests, the Democrats were forced to return to Austin.
The second set of redistricting maps adopted by the Texas legislature during the second special session, and signed by the governor, kept the airport and Fort Bliss in Escobar’s district.
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Gonzales said little publicly about the latest redistricting maps. Gonzales took over Will Hurd’s seat after Hurd retired in 2020, but narrowly held on to his seat against Brandon Herrera during the 2024 primaries. In 2023, Gonzales was censured by the Republicans for going against the Republicans on border security, the second amendment and traditional marriage legislation. The censure was only the second censure the Republican Party had issued against one of its own.
Gonzales supports legislation that allows immigrants to get easer work permits to work in agricultural and construction jobs. In April, Gonzales told Texas Monthly that “immigrants build rockets to Mars, they’re doctors and nurses, you name it.” He added, “if somebody wants to come here legally and go to work, we should be fighting for that person, not fighting against that person.”
Gonzales Again Accepts Hunt Campaign Contributions
After returning Hunt’s campaign contributions in 2021, Gonzales again began accepting Hunt’s financial support. According to Federal Election Commission campaign reports, between 2019 and June 27, 2025, campaign cycle, The Tony Gonzales for Congress Campaign accepted $20,400 from Woody Hunt. Gonzales’ Victory Fund, a second campaign account, also accepted $19,600 from Hunt in three contributions this year and another $6,600 in 2023.
Because of the transfers between his Campaign and Victory accounts, it is difficult to get a total of contributions made by Woody Hunt to Gonzales, but the total is around $35,000 to $40,000.
In 2019, Hunt made a $2,800 contribution to Gonzales. In 2020, Hunt contributed an additional $5,600. In 2021, Hunt contributed $5,800 in two $2,900 contributions made on March 12, 2021. But Gonzales returned the contributions on October 19, 2021, because of the redistricting fight over the airport and Fort Bliss.
Hunt did not make any campaign contributions to Gonzales in 2022, campaign finance records show.
However, in 2023, Hunt again began to make campaign contributions to Gonzales. Hunt made three contributions totaling $6,200 that year. The following year, Hunt made one contribution to Gonzales for $3,300. This year, Hunt has made three campaign contributions to Gonzales totaling $7,000 through June, plus $13,000 in three contributions this year to Gonzales’ Victory Fund. In 2023, Hunt also made a $6,600 campaign to Gonzales’ Victory Fund.
As noted, Tony Gonzales did not take a public position on the removal of the airport and Fort Bliss in this year’s redistricting maps. Although the initial maps removed the airport and Fort Bliss from Escobar’s district, the new redistricting maps signed by the governor leave them in Escobar’s district.
In 2022, Tony Gonzales also refunded Dee Margo’s two 2019 campaign contributions totaling $2,000.