Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, is facing calls from several GOP lawmakers to resign or abandon his re-election bid after the San Antonio Express-News reported it obtained and authenticated text messages it says show Gonzales making sexual requests to a former staff member, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles. Gonzales has denied having an affair and has said he will not resign.
The controversy escalated after the San Antonio Express-News reported that it obtained and authenticated screenshots and extracted text messages that Adrian Aviles, the widower of Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, said were exchanged between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales. (expressnews.com)
According to the Express-News, the text thread includes Gonzales asking Santos-Aviles to “Send me a sexy pic,” and later asking about her “Favorite position,” alongside other sexual messages. The newspaper reported that Santos-Aviles pushed back during the exchange, writing lines including “This is going too far boss” and “This is too far Tony.” (expressnews.com)
Santos-Aviles, who worked in Gonzales’ Uvalde-area office, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire at her home in Uvalde, Texas, and later dying from her injuries, according to reporting by the Express-News and CBS News. (expressnews.com)
In an interview with the Express-News, Aviles said he made the messages public to rebut assertions that he was attempting to “blackmail” Gonzales and to illustrate what he described as an abuse of power. The Daily Wire and the Express-News both quoted Aviles calling Gonzales “a predator” and saying Gonzales “took advantage of a very vulnerable woman.” (dailywire.com)
Gonzales has denied having an affair and has framed the accusations as politically motivated. On Tuesday, he told CNN he would not resign, saying: “I am not going to resign. I work every day for the people of Texas … and there will be an opportunity for all the details and all the facts to come out. What you’ve seen is not all the facts.” He did not confirm the authenticity of the texts in that exchange, according to the Daily Wire. (dailywire.com)
Several House Republicans have publicly demanded action. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for Gonzales to resign, with Luna condemning what she described as a member of Congress asking a staffer for explicit photos. (dailywire.com)
Texas Reps. Chip Roy and Brandon Gill have urged Gonzales to end his re-election campaign, and Roy has endorsed Republican primary challenger Brandon Herrera, who has accused Gonzales of abusing his position and called for his resignation. (dailywire.com)
House Speaker Mike Johnson has not called for Gonzales to step down, urging colleagues to let investigations and fact-finding proceed. Johnson told CBS News that allegations were “detestable,” but said Republicans should allow “all the facts to play out,” adding that it had been reported the Office of Congressional Conduct was investigating. (cbsnews.com)
Claims about Gonzales’ standing in the primary were not independently confirmed in the available reporting beyond a Daily Wire reference to a “Political Intelligence” poll as relayed by the New York Post. That poll figure could not be verified from primary polling documentation in the sources reviewed. (dailywire.com)
