Gonzales admitted in March to an affair he had with a former staffer who died by suicide. Another ex-staffer recently accused him of sexual solicitation over text.
SAN ANTONIO — As US. Rep. Tony Gonzales wraps ups his time in office, there are questions about the impacts of the three-term Republican congressman resigning versus retiring.
“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been m privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales said in his post on X.
His announcement comes following mounting backlash from Democrats and Republicans after he admitted to an affair with ex-staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide in September 2025.
Bobby Barrera, the attorney for Regina’s husband, Adrian Aviles, emphasized his client’s goal was never to tarnish Gonzales’ career but demand he take responsibility for the affair.
“It comes after, I’m sure, intense pressure from his congressional membership and leaders. Otherwise, I don’t think he would have made that decision,” Barrera said.
Gonzales had repeatedly denied the affair, but then confessed in March during an interview on a conservative online talk show before dropping out of the May primary runoff election.
Reporting in recent weeks revealed another former staffer accused Gonzales of engaging in sexual misconduct over text, which included solicitation of nude photos.
Gonzales faces the prospect of an expulsion vote led by Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico amid a House Ethics Committee investigation into his behavior.
“He has until 2 p.m. tomorrow—when we will file his expulsion. He better write that resignation ‘effective immediately,'” Leger Fernandez said Monday in a post on X.
Jon Taylor, a political science professor at UT San Antonio, broke down the differences between outright resigning and retiring from Congress.
“Instead of resigning, by retiring it means he’s not leaving his House seat immediately. It means he maintains that House seat for the rest of the term,” Taylor said. “By not resigning, as crazy as it sounds, his pension continues, he actually builds up pension for his retirement. He doesn’t force the Republicans and the governor of Texas to call a special election, therefore potentially holding that seat for Republicans in the fall.”
With an expulsion vote not ruled out, Taylor acknowledges there’s still the other option that could become a reality.
“I wonder as we go along, if the political pressure will build for him to resign based on what people have said, people in his own party have said in the U.S. House, that the allegations are so egregious that he should just go, retirement is not good enough,” Taylor said.
Gonzales’ retirement news emerged on the same day Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California announced he’s resigning in light of sexual misconduct allegations involving multiple women, including a staffer who claimed he raped her years ago.