Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales has decided to drop out of his bid for re-election in the state of Texas, finally coming clean about his affair with a staffer who later committed suicide. Gonzales announced his withdrawal from the race through a statement posted on his X account. The post did not directly mention the scandal, which has marred his reputation.
Gonzales started the statement off by saying that he has spent time reflecting on his actions and seeking counsel from his family, having come to the conclusion that he should not seek reelection for his congressional seat. “After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek reelection while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I’ve always had to my district,” the post read.
The Texas Republican was set to square off against diehard conservative and gun rights activist Brandon Herrera in a primary runoff scheduled for May 2026. Herrera will move forward and receive the nomination for Gonzales’s seat and face off against Democrat Katy Padilla Stout in November. The 23rd District, which spans a huge portion of the U.S.-Mexico border and West Texas, is deep red, which favors Herrera.
According to CBS News, Gonzales has received calls to resign from individuals on both sides of the political spectrum. However, he previously insisted that he would not step down from his post, nor would he drop out of the race. However, a day after an investigation was opened by the House Ethics Committee into his conduct, he confessed the affair.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) along with other members of GOP leadership immediately asked him to drop out of his bid for re-election. “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,” House GOP leadership said about the situation.
The report noted that Gonzales had previously denied having an affair with Regina Santos-Aviles, a former aide who passed away as a result of suicide in September 2025. Santos-Aviles died after she lit herself on fire. A police report from law enforcement officials in Uvalde, Texas, Santos-Aviles was conscious when they arrived on the scene. She allegedly told officers, “My God, I don’t want to die.”
Making the story even more tragic, Santos-Aviles was married and had a son. Gonzales is also married and has six children. Text messages exchanged between the two reveal that Santos-Aviles told the Texas Republican “this is going too far boss” after he requested she send a “sexy pic” in 2024. In another series of messages, this time between Santos-Aviles and a coworker, she wrote, “I had affair with boss.”
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The day following his primary with Herrera, Gonzales acknowledged that he did indeed have an affair with Santos-Aviles, while doing an interview with a conservative talk show host. He went on to refer to the incident as a “mistake” and a “lapse in judgment.” However, during the discussion, he said that the controversy around the affair was “about power and money.”
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