Vicente Gonzalez attends campaign event the same day he failed to show in-person for key votes, citing COVID

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for September 30

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on foxnews.1eye.us.

Vulnerable Democratic Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez missed a number of votes in the House of Representatives this week, citing the "ongoing public health emergency" of COVID-19 as his reason to vote remotely while he attended a number of events in his home state instead.

The embattled Democrat opted to vote by proxy, the process in which a member of Congress can have another member vote on legislation in their absence, choosing Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., to vote in his stead.

"I continue to be unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency and hereby grant the authority to caste my vote by proxy to the Honorable Lou Correa (California), who has agreed to serve as my proxy," Gonzalez's official proxy letter stated.

Of the votes missed by Gonzalez, the most high-profile was the Friday passage of a largely Democrat-backed bill that avoided a shutdown of the federal government, and was described by some as a crucial piece of legislation.

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE VICENTE GONZALEZ CLAIMS MAYRA FLORES, SUPPORTERS ‘STOLE’ TEXAS SPECIAL ELECTION

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, attends a House Financial Services Committee hearing titled Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy featuring testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in Rayburn Building on February 27, 2018. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Gonzalez's office for comment on why he chose to be in Texas for a specific campaign event on Thursday evening hosted by the Cameron County Democratic Party rather than the numerous votes held in the House on Thursday and Friday, but didn't receive an immediate response.

His office responded after publishing that his attendance at the event took place after House voting had ended on Thursday evening, and that he attended three other events in an official capacity during the Friday voting hours in which the bill to avoid a government shutdown was passed.

A number of other members also opted to vote by proxy, but it wasn't immediately clear if they were also attending events. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi extended proxy voting earlier this month until after the November election, declaring that the coronavirus pandemic still amounted to a public health emergency.

Other members have also continued to use the language citing a public health emergency in their proxy letters when unable to attend votes in the House Chamber, including Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, Gonzalez's opponent.

PELOSI EXTENDS PROXY VOTING IN THE HOUSE UNTIL NOVEMBER DUE TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC WHICH BIDEN SAID 'IS OVER'

Gonzalez, who currently represents Texas' 15th Congressional District, is facing a tough re-election battle against Flores in the state's 34th Congressional District, after deciding to run there following the redrawing of district maps.

Fox News' Power rankings has rated the race as "lean Democratic."

Rep. Mayra Flores is the first Republican Latina ever elected to Congress from Texas, and she is also the first female Mexican-born member of the House of Representatives.  (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The general election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8.