Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said Tuesday that he has no plans to resign despite scattered but growing calls from fellow House Republicans for him to drop his reelection bid or leave Congress following allegations that he had an affair with a staff member who later died after lighting herself on fire.
“I’m not going to resign. I work every day for the people of Texas,” Gonzales told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Gonzalez, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, declined to answer questions about whether suggestive text messages shared publicly by the former staff member’s former husband were authentic communications between him and the staffer.
“What you’ve seen is not all the facts, and there will be an ample time for that to come out,” Gonzales said, without elaborating.
Gonzales, who faces a tough primary challenge from the right in his sprawling district along the border, has denied any improper relationship with the former aide, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles. Addressing the matter at an event last year, the married father of six said such rumors were “completely untruthful.”
House Republican leaders have acknowledged the gravity of the allegations but said they prefer to wait for a House ethics review to take place.
“The accusations are very serious,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) told reporters Tuesday.
He cited reports that the Office of Congressional Conduct, which reviews allegations of misconduct by House members, is reviewing Gonzales’s relationship with Santos-Aviles. Under House rules, lawmakers are prohibited from having sexual relationships with members of their staffs.
“Obviously, I’m watching that closely,” Scalise said.
Adverse findings by the OCC could prompt a full-blown investigation by the House Ethics Committee in coming weeks.
Scalise’s comments echoed those of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who on Monday also called the accusations “very serious” and said that he advised Gonzales to address them with his constituents. But Johnson, whose party holds a razor-thin majority in the House, insisted that “you have to allow investigations to play out.”
Meanwhile, a growing number of Gonzales’s colleagues have urged him to resign or drop out of the race ahead of next week’s primary, in which he faces Brandon Herrera, who owns a firearm manufacturer and runs a popular YouTube channel calling himself “the AK Guy.” Herrera narrowly lost to Gonzales in a primary runoff in 2024.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) told reporters that Gonzales needs to drop out because his campaign has become “just a waste of time and effort.”
Reps. Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Lauren Boebert (Colorado) and Anna Paulina Luna (Florida) are among the fellow Republicans who have urged Gonzales to step down immediately.
Other House Republicans, including Burchett and Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Brandon Gill (Texas) and Nancy Mace (South Carolina) have stopped short of calling for Gonzales to leave Congress but have said he should abandon his reelection bid.
Roy, who has endorsed Herrera, said he had been reluctant to speaking publicly because of “collegiality” among House colleagues.
“Due process is important for everything, and I don’t think we need to just quickly react to everything. … But I do think it would be better for the country if he were to withdraw for the race and take a step back and just finish out his term, and let’s move on,” Roy said.
Roy is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose political arm endorsed Herrera on Monday. Herrera has pitched himself as a more conservative voice for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District.
Teo Armus contributed to this report.
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