Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) on Thursday dropped his bid for reelection after acknowledging that he had an affair with a staff member who later set herself on fire and died.
“After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I’ve always had to my district,” Gonzales said in a late-night statement posted on X, days after advancing to a primary runoff against a conservative challenger.
House Republican leaders had called on Gonzales to resign over the scandal earlier on Thursday. In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson (Louisiana) and other GOP leaders also said the House Ethics Committee had opened an investigation into the affair. Under House rules, lawmakers are not permitted to engage in sexual relationships with staff members.
The statement was a remarkable turn for Johnson and others in the House GOP leadership, who previously said they would let the issue “play out,” even as the scandal dogged Gonzales’s primary race for months.
Gonzales’ exit from the race clears the way for YouTuber and activist Brandon Herrera to represent the GOP in November. Herrera, who owns a gun business and calls himself “the AK Guy,” thanked GOP leaders on Thursday for holding Gonzales “accountable for actions that have tarnished the office.”
On Tuesday, Gonzales fell short of the majority required to avoid a runoff in the GOP primary for his West Texas seat. He was scheduled to face off with Herrera on May 26.
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 Santos-Aviles 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 Wednesday 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.”
Up until Thursday, Gonzales had repeatedly insisted he would not leave Congress or drop out of his race.
“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 Wednesday. “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 Gonzales 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.
House GOP leaders have in some cases stayed silent when their members have faced ethics investigations, often saying they would prefer to let the process play out. They have not, for instance, publicly weighed in on the reelection bids of Reps. Cory Mills (R-Florida) or Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), who are under active investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
Notably, House GOP leaders did not ask Gonzales to resign outright, as they hold on to a razor-thin majority in the chamber. At least one Republican congressman, Rep. Thomas Massie (Kentucky), criticized the leadership for not going far enough.
“Where’s the GOP leadership’s moral conscience? For the sake of our party, advise him to resign,” Massie wrote on X.
Matthew Choi, Teo Armus and Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.
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