Expert says GOP leadership’s silence reflects narrow House majority, while primary challengers gain ground.
SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales said this week he will not resign as questions continue to swirl over sexually explicit text messages and an alleged affair with a former staff member.
“I am not going to resign. I work every day. I work every day for the people of Texas,” Gonzales said Tuesday, declining to answer questions about the messages.
The allegations involve Regina Santos-Aviles, a former staffer. Uvalde police have said Santos-Aviles died by suicide last year.
The controversy comes as several Republican members of Congress have called for Gonzales to step down. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson has not joined those calls.
“We don’t leap to conclusions whether you’re talking about Republicans or Democrats in regard to legal processes,” Johnson said Wednesday.
Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said it is not surprising House leadership has refrained from urging Gonzales to resign, citing the GOP’s narrow majority.
“He thinks he’s not guilty, he thinks he has not done anything wrong,” Taylor said of Gonzales. Taylor added that Gonzales has pointed to an ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee and has urged critics to wait for its findings.
Gonzales is facing three Republican challengers in the primary: Brandon Herrera, Francisco “Quico” Canseco and Keith Barton.
Taylor said Herrera appears to be Gonzales’ strongest challenger and predicted the race could head to a runoff.
“Brandon Herrera has raised a decent amount of money, a lot more money than he raised in 2024, when he only lost to Gonzales in a runoff by a little over 400 votes,” Taylor said.
Taylor said the controversy could also create an opportunity for Democrats if the Republican nominee emerges weakened.
“Whoever wins that nomination, I think is poised — especially if Gonzales ends up being so damaged he’s not viewed as electable — when you now essentially have an open seat, that becomes a Democratic pickup opportunity and they will take advantage of that,” Taylor said.
Still, Taylor said Gonzales could survive the scandal, even depending on what the ethics investigation reveals.
“Could he survive this scandal? The answer is he could,” Taylor said. “This is not 20 or 30 years ago where if something similar like this happened, he’d be gone instantly and we’d never hear from him again.”
The Republican Party of Bexar County declined to comment on the allegations, saying it would wait until the investigation is complete.
Gonzales’ office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.