House Republican leaders are calling on Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) to end his re-election campaign after he admitted to an affair with a former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later died by suicide.
You can watch Gonzales’s rather emotionless admission below. Note – It’s hard to ignore that Gonzales blinks a LOT when he speaks.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) admits he had an affair with a female staffer who later died by suicide:
“I made a mistake and had a lapse in judgment. It was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked… pic.twitter.com/ZayMkBGYA7
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 5, 2026
“I don’t have the opportunity to be distracted.”
A woman is dead, and Tony Gonzales isn’t taking any of it seriously. #TX23 pic.twitter.com/pvslWiR0UN
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) March 5, 2026
From the New York Times:
In a joint statement, the top three House Republicans said that the Ethics Committee would be conducting an investigation and that “in the meantime, leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”
It counted as a stunning move from G.O.P. leaders, who are operating with a razor-thin majority in the House that allows only one defection to still succeed on party-line votes if all members are voting.
Mr. Herrera thanked Speaker Mike Johnson in a social media post, saying Republican leaders were “holding Congressman Tony Gonzales accountable for actions that have tarnished the office.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Gonzales, who had refused for months to address the allegations, told a right-wing radio host that the affair was a “lapse in judgment” and a “mistake.”
Santos-Avila , a former Gonzales staffer who worked in his Uvalde office, died in 2025 after setting herself on fire. Gonzales had continually denied rumors of an affair between the two since her passing.
But evidence of the relationship has continued to surface including text messages shared by Santos-Aviles’ widower.
Screenshots of messages showed Gonzales, who is married with six children, asking his staffer to send a “sexy pic” and making other explicit comments, despite her refusal and assertion that Gonzales’ messages were “going too far.” You can read more details of the affair here.
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Gonzales for “sexual misconduct” yesterday.
Gonzales is currently headed to a runoff after Tuesday’s Texas primaries where his opponent, gun activist Brandon Herrera, won 43.3% of the vote versus his 41.7%.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has refused to ask Gonzales to resign.
Speaker Johnson stops short of calling on Tony Gonzales to resign after the Texas Republican admitted to violating House rules and having an affair with a staffer.
Johnson referred us to his statement which called on him to drop his reelection bid (but no mention of resignation) pic.twitter.com/aEfTPA2nmq— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 5, 2026
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