Gonzalez declared his candidacy for the 2016 elections for the United States House of Representatives in after Rubén Hinojosa, the incumbent representative, announced he would not run for reelection. He won the Democratic Party nomination, defeating Sonny Palacios in the runoff election. He defeated Republican Tim Westley in the November general election, winning 57.3% of the vote to Westley's 37.7%.
Tenure
Gonzalez was sworn in January 3, 2017. At the start of his career in Congress, he was appointed to the House Financial Services Committee, the Blue Dog Coalition, and the Problem Solvers Caucus. In June 2017, Gonzalez announced the formation of the Congressional Oil & Gas Caucus and will be serving as its chair. He is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Small Business Caucus, and the Congressional Blue Collar Caucus. In the 116th Congress, he serves on the Subcommittees on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets; Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; and Diversity and Inclusion. In the 116th Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi granted him a waiver to jointly serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman Gonzalez is a member of the Subcommittees on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade; and Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment. During his first six months in office, Gonzalez brought Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to the Rio Grande Valley. He was also the first Texas Democrat and first Latino in Congress to be invited by President Donald Trump to a private dinner at the White House. In the 115th Congress, Gonzalez participated in bipartisan and bicameral congressional delegations to a variety of countries around the globe. In Japan, he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, and Japanese First Lady Akie Abe. He also met with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tarō Kōno, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Bill Hagerty, and other respective government officials. In Guatemala, he met with President Jimmy Morales. In Mexico, he met with the Chief of Staff to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Alfonso Romo; Mexican Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Juan Carlos Baker; and Former Secretary of the Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal. In China, he met with Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Liu He. In South Korea, he met with members of the U.S. Army, stationed at Camp Humphreys, located within the seaport city of Pyeongtaek. In December 2018, he joined the U.S. delegation attending the inauguration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Since taking office, Gonzalez has spent every Thanksgiving with members of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed overseas. He spent the holiday with troops stationed in Afghanistan in 2017, and in Kuwait and Djibouti in 2018. In January 2019, Gonzalez was one of seven Democratic lawmakers to meet with President Donald Trump to put an end to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez received the Order of the Quetzal, an award that acknowledges foreign officials, organizations, and people who have given back to the nation of Guatemala whose artistic, civic, humanitarian, or scientific work merit special recognition, in January 2020.
Personal life
Gonzalez's wife, Lorena, is a former teacher and school administrator from McAllen, Texas. His father was a merchant marine who served in the Korean War. Gonzalez lives in McAllen.
