Republican House leaders called on embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) to drop his reelection bid Thursday, following his acknowledgment that he had an affair with a staff member who later died after setting herself on fire.
In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (Louisiana) and other GOP leaders said the House Ethics Committee had opened an investigation into the affair and urged the committee to act “expeditiously.” Under House rules, lawmakers are not permitted to engage in sexual relationships with staff members.
“Congressman Gonzales has said he will fully cooperate with the investigation. We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues. In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election,” the statement said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Louisiana), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minnesota) and Republican Conference Chair Lisa C. McClain (Michigan) also signed the statement. The request is a remarkable turn for Johnson and others in the House GOP leadership, who — while holding on to a razor-thin majority — had said they would let the issue “play out,” even as the scandal dogged Gonzales’s primary race for months.
On Tuesday, Gonzales fell short of the majority vote required to avoid a runoff in the GOP primary for his West Texas seat. He will face off against the other top finisher, Brandon Herrera, a YouTuber with a gun business who calls himself “the AK Guy.” On Thursday, Herrera thanked GOP leaders for holding Gonzales “accountable for actions that have tarnished the office.”
Representatives for Gonzales did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gonzales, a married father of six, has admitted to having “made a mistake” by engaging in an affair with then-aide Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who died in September after lighting herself on fire in her backyard. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Santos-Aviles’s estranged husband has shared text messages from May 2024 that appear to show Gonzales asking the former staffer for a “sexy pic,” as well as asking her about her preferred sex position. Santos-Aviles wrote back, “This is going too far boss.”
“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said on “The Joe Pags Show,” a conservative radio program, contradicting his previous denials. “Since then, I have reconciled with my wife, Angel, I’ve asked God to forgive me — which he has — and my faith is as strong as ever.”
Gonzales has repeatedly insisted he would not leave Congress or drop out of his race, including as recently as Wednesday night.
“Those that are asking for me not to do my job are the ones that want to see the Republicans fail here in Congress,” he said on the radio program. “There’s no time. There’s no — we can’t let anything slow us down from executing President Trump’s agenda.”
On Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee announced it would investigate allegations that he had “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and that he “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
During the radio interview, Gonzales said, “I look forward to the Ethics Committee starting an investigation. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to provide all the facts and all the details that lead to exactly what occurred in the entire situation.” He added that he had not spoken with Santos-Aviles since June 2024 and was “shocked” when he learned of her death.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing,” Gonzales said.
Matthew Choi, Teo Armus and Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.
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