GOP Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales is headed to a runoff fight against his primary challenger Brandon Herrera as he faces mounting calls to resign from Republican colleagues for having an affair with his ex-staffer, who died by suicide last year.
The congressman was running for re-election in the competitive 23rd Congressional District and refused to exit the race despite bombshell reports that the married father of six had cheated and sexually harassed his former staffer.
Gonzales remained defiant Tuesday night in the face of a runoff on May 26, writing, “Thank you President Trump and all those #TX23 constituents that support our campaign. Onward to a victorious May."
The San Antonio Express-News reported last month that it had reviewed a text message sent by 35-year-old Regina Ann Santos-Aviles to a fellow staffer months before her death.
She wrote: “I had [sic] affair with our boss and I’m fine. You will be fine.”
In September, the mother of an 8-year-old boy set herself on fire outside her Uvalde home.
Santos-Aviles went into a deep depression when her husband found out about the affair, and then Gonzales cut her off before taking her own life, according to the report.
Other text messages recently revealed from 2024 also showed Gonzales pressured Santos-Aviles to send him a “sexy pic” and questioned her about her favorite sexual position despite her warning he had gone “too far.”
Some of Gonzales’ Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill blasted Gonzales’ “disgusting” behavior after the texts were released.
Multiple GOP lawmakers including Reps. Thomas Massie, Nancy Mace, Anna Paulina Luna, Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett and Brandon Gill have called for Gonzales to resign.
But the defiant lawmaker refused to step aside or quit the race. He claimed he was facing “coordinated political attacks” because of the upcoming election. In one of several posts, the embattled Republican declared he would not be “blackmailed.”
Among those calling for Gonzales’ resignation was also primary opponent Herrera, a gun rights advocate and social media influencer, who was running against the lawmaker from the right in the purple district.
Herrera also ran against Gonzales in 2024 and forced the primary race to a runoff before losing. In the weeks leading up to the primary, he has argued Gonzales was too damaged to win the general election in the competitive district come November.
The House GOP leadership in Washington, D.C., held off from telling the Texas lawmaker he needed to exit the race or Congress. Instead, Speaker Mike Johnson said last week it would “play out” in the primary as Republicans cling to their razor-thin majority in the House.
