Fellow congressional Republicans are calling for Gonzales to step down over reports of an alleged affair.
SAN ANTONIO — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas resisted growing calls Tuesday from fellow congressional Republicans to resign over allegations of an affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fire.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky joined Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Nancy Mace of South Carolina in demanding that Gonzales step down immediately. Gonzales is in a tough race in Texas’ Republican primary on March 3, facing a challenger he narrowly defeated in a 2024 GOP runoff.
He told reporters he will not resign. A resignation would leave Republicans with a 217-214 majority until March, when the first of three special elections to fill vacancies is set in Georgia.
“There will be opportunities for all of the details and facts to come out,” he said. “What you’ve seen is not all the facts.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would talk to Gonzales on Tuesday.
Johnson said Monday that the accusations against Gonzales “must be taken seriously,” but he added, “in every case like this, you have to allow the investigation to play out and all the facts to come out.”
“If the accusation of something is going to be the litmus for someone being able to continue to serve in the House, a lot of people would have to resign or be removed or expelled from Congress,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Mace announced that she has introduced a resolution to force the House Ethics Commission to publicly release its reports and records of allegations of sexual harassment against members of Congress.
Gonzales said in a social media post last week that he was being blackmailed and then suggested in another post Sunday that he is the target of “coordinated political attacks.”
His main primary opponent is Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer who calls himself “the AK Guy” on YouTube, where his channel has nearly 4.2 million subscribers. Gonzales defeated Herrera by fewer than 400 votes in their 2024 runoff.
President Donald Trump had endorsed Gonzales for reelection in December.
According to cell phone records, Gonzales sent Regina Santos-Aviles an early morning text asking her to “send me a sexy pic” more than a year before her death. The text messages were provided to KENS 5 by Santos-Aviles’ estranged husband, Adrian Aviles, and show Gonzales sending Santos-Aviles other lewd messages—including texts asking her about her favorite sexual positions.
“I’m just such a visual person,” Gonzales texted Santos-Aviles, who was married at the time, at 12:27 a.m. on May 9, 2024.
“This is going too far boss,” she messaged him later in the conversation, when Gonzales texted about a sexual fantasy involving Santos-Aviles.
When Gonzales pried about other sex acts, Santos-Aviles texted again: “This is too far, Tony.”
KENS 5 spoke with the attorney representing Aviles, who said he learned of his wife’s alleged affair in 2024 when he reviewed her phone. The attorney claimed Aviles’ actions are not politically motivated, pointing to another ex-staffer who the attorney said originally made the allegations public when speaking to the San Antonio Express-News.
Uvalde authorities had said from the early stages of the investigation that there were no indications of foul play in Santos-Aviles’ Sept. 13 death. According to new documents tied to the investigation, a Uvalde PD officers responded to Santos-Aviles’ home and found her “with severe burn injuries covering her body.”
“(Santos-Aviles) stated she discovered her husband was cheating on her with her best friend, and as a result, she poured gasoline on herself and set herself on fire,” the report states. Investigators later obtained footage that showed her “pouring gasoline onto her chest area.”
“Where are the other men in the GOP?” Massie asked Tuesday in a post on X in calling for Gonzales to resign, adding that Trump should revoke his endorsement.
Gonzales, whose district stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and runs along the U.S.-Mexico border, has six children with his wife.
Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Also contributing was Associated Press journalist Kevin Freking in Washington.
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