Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales is not expected to win a GOP primary as new details emerge about a sex scandal involving a former aide who died via suicide last year.
The married lawmaker, 45, who is a father-of-six, had an affair with his ex-district director, Regina Ann “Regi” Santos-Aviles, 35, who self-immolated in the garden of her Texas Hill Country home in September.
Now, a former Gonzales staff member alleges to the San Antonio Express-News that the congressman did not act when told about Santos-Aviles’ declining mental state. The story adds that her husband had learned of her affair with her boss, and she became depressed.
The horrific scandal has Gonzales in the rare position of being both a multi-term incumbent and an underdog in the GOP primary, according to prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket.
Polymarket gives the Navy veteran Gonzales a 41 percent chance of besting fellow Republican Brandon Herrera, a 30-year-old gun activist and YouTuber, to have a chance of retaining his seat for a fourth term this fall. Kalshi gives Gonzales just a 39 percent chance of winning.
Herrera has been given 57 percent and 61 percent chances of winning in the two prediction markets. A third GOP candidate, Keith Barton, has rarely traded above one percent on Kalshi and is not listed at all on Polymarket.
A firm member of MAGA, President Donald Trump endorsed Gonzales in a Truth Social post in December, calling him a “terrific representative” who supports the military, veterans, economic growth, tax cuts, border security, and the Second Amendment.
In return, Gonzales has repeatedly backed the president’s policies and even refused to condemn a racist video shared by Trump—depicting the Obamas as apes—when confronted on live TV earlier this month.
Messages that Santos-Aviles, a mother of an eight-year-old boy, sent to her colleagues were made public in an Express-News report on Tuesday, including one in which she wrote in part, “I had [an] affair with our boss.”
The former aide who claims to have alerted Gonzales to Santos-Aviles’ declining mental state has since left the lawmaker’s office because he felt he could no longer sell his “message and his ideals.”
The affair between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles was known among some of his staff as early as 2024, the Express-News reported. Bobby Barrera, an attorney for Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, told the local paper that the affair “was not a secret among the staff.”
“It’s common knowledge,” Barrera said. “The staff was clearly aware this event was occurring.”
Barrera said he is not certain it was the affair itself that led to Santos-Aviles’ suicide.
Word of an affair began circling in media reports after Santos-Aviles’ death. A spokesperson for the embattled lawmaker slammed the Daily Mail for reporting on the matter in January, telling the tabloid that those pushing allegations that Gonzales was partly to blame were “political bottom feeders” trying to “distort” the circumstances around the tragedy.
Gonzales’ office did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
The former staffer who spoke to the Express-News alleged that Santos-Aviles began to be frozen out of work after she opened up to other staff about the affair in May 2024. The report claims that she would no longer accompany Gonzales on Uvalde visits, and the meetings she had arranged were being canceled.
“She talked about Tony every day,” the ex-staffer said. “She went from the number one employee in the office to nothing.”
The Express News wrote that it was pulling its endorsement of Gonzales in light of its new reporting. Early voting in the primary begins Wednesday.
“The affair is troubling for many reasons. First, it is an act of deception. Gonzales is married and has six children,” the board wrote this week. “Second, Gonzales had an affair with a staffer. This was not an equal relationship. Third, while an attorney for Santos-Aviles’ husband has said he does not believe the affair played a role in the suicide by self-immolation at her home in Uvalde, it nevertheless looms over the tragedy,” the board wrote.
It added, “We see a disturbing lack of character from an elected official.”
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
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