Texas Democrat's campaign spending on cookies, wine sparks GOP attack in heated House race

In the final weeks of a bitter Texas congressional race, a Democratic candidate's campaign spending has become a weapon in the hands of her Republican opponent. Katy Padilla Stout, running for the U.S. House seat representing Texas' 23rd Congressional District, reported more than $4,300 in campaign expenditures across five transactions in March and April: $675 for cookies, $1,289.22 at a wine retailer, and $2,373.92 at a Mexican restaurant. The spending details, filed with the Federal Election Commission and first reported in August, have now resurfaced as a line of attack in the final stretch of the race.

Brandon Herrera, Stout's Republican opponent, has seized on the cookie purchase with particular vigor. His campaign website features a section titled "Cookie gate" that highlights the $675 transaction marked "COOKIES FOR EVENT" and accuses Stout of using donor money for the treats. The wine purchases—$1,089.08 on April 21 and $200.14 the following day, both labeled "BEER AND WINE"—and the two payments to Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana on consecutive days in late April round out the spending that Herrera's campaign has weaponized. The FEC filings themselves establish only that the expenditures were reported; they do not clarify whether the purchases were appropriate, whether any were for personal use, or how many supporters attended the associated events.

Stout has defended the spending as legitimate campaign and fundraising expenses. In a statement to Fox News Digital, she explained that the cookies—specifically Texas-shaped ones—were purchased from a local bakery to support small business and hold cultural significance in the state. She characterized all the disputed expenditures as costs associated with events attended by campaign supporters. The filings provide no additional detail that would confirm or contradict her account.

The spending controversy has been overshadowed, at least temporarily, by a more heated exchange during a televised debate in San Antonio. Stout criticized Herrera for earning money through online videos that mock Nazis, saying he "made millions of dollars after making jokes online, making fun of Nazis." Herrera responded by noting that making fun of Nazis seemed like a worthwhile endeavor. Stout then apologized for misspeaking, clarifying that her objection was not to mocking Nazis themselves but to what she characterized as Herrera's pattern of trivializing veteran suicide, rape, child murder, and the Holocaust for clicks and revenue. She pointed to specific videos: one from May 2022 in which Herrera goose-stepped to the song "Erika" while handling an MP-40 machine gun, and another from June 2020 in which he said "for the fatherland" before firing a Nazi-made STG 44, calling the experience "like a religious experience." Stout argued that framing such content as jokes does not change its fundamental nature—platforming Nazi symbols and weaponry for profit.

Herrera, a firearms manufacturer and online personality who has adopted "Let's Go Brandon" as his campaign slogan, has not responded to requests for comment on either the spending allegations or Stout's debate criticism. His campaign has focused instead on border law enforcement, tax reduction, and Second Amendment protections. Stout, a former teacher and child welfare attorney, has centered her campaign on affordability and corruption.

The two candidates are competing for a seat that stretches from the San Antonio area toward El Paso, encompassing hundreds of miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. The seat opened when former Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned earlier this year following acknowledgment of an affair with a staffer. Early voting begins October 19, with Election Day set for November 3. The district's size and geographic span—one of the country's largest—underscore the stakes of a race that has grown increasingly personal and contentious as the election approaches.