GOP Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales Ends Reelection Bid After Admitting Affair With Late Staffer

GOP Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales ends reelection bid after admitting affair with late staffer Republican Tony Gonzales, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas, has announced he will not seek re‑election after admitting he had an affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

Gonzales said he made the decision after “deep reflection” and with the support of his family, adding that he intends to serve out the remainder of his current term while stepping away from the 2026 election. Gonzales confirmed the affair in a statement on social media late on Thursday, acknowledging it as a “lapse in judgment” and taking responsibility for his actions.

“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,” he said. The announcement came just hours after senior Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, urged him to abandon his reelection bid in light of the scandal and an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation.

The affair involved Regina Ann Santos‑Aviles, a former staffer in Gonzales’s office, who died by suicide in September 2025 after setting herself on fire outside her home in Uvalde, Texas. Local authorities ruled her death a suicide. The House Ethics Committee has opened a formal investigation into Gonzales’s conduct to determine whether he violated congressional rules, including those prohibiting sexual relationships with staffers under a lawmaker’s supervision. GOP leadership’s call for Gonzales to withdraw from the race reflected mounting concern within the party. Although they did not explicitly call for him to resign from Congress, they asked him to address the allegations directly with constituents and cooperate with the ethics probe.

Some Republican lawmakers have called for further disciplinary action, including removal from committee assignments or censure, while Democratic leaders have supported the idea of expulsion from the House, a rare and significant move.

Gonzales’s withdrawal effectively clears the way for his Republican rival, Brandon Herrera, a gun‑rights activist and social media personality, to become the party’s nominee in the heavily Republican Texas 23rd Congressional District.

The seat, which stretches from the U.S.–Mexico border to West Texas, will now see Herrera face a Democratic challenger in the general election in November Gonzales, a Navy veteran, was first elected to Congress in 2020. He has served three terms representing his district. Throughout the controversy, he maintained he had reconciled with his wife and denied any involvement in the circumstances surrounding Santos‑Aviles’s death.