House GOP leaders ask Gonzales to drop reelection bid after confession of affair with staffer

House Republican leaders are asking Rep. Tony Gonzales to end his reelection campaign after the Texas Republican confessed to having an affair with an employee in 2024 – a violation of the chamber’s code of conduct.

The joint statement from House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain comes a day after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into the affair.

“Congressman Gonzales has said he will fully cooperate with the investigation. We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues,” the GOP leaders said. “In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”

Mr. Gonzales had previously denied the reports of an affair before confessing Wednesday to the “mistake.”

Other Republican lawmakers have suggested Mr. Gonzales drop his reelection bid. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a fellow Texas Republican, called Mr. Gonzales’ actions “unacceptable” and said he should also step down from his role as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference.

The GOP leaders’ statement notably stopped short of asking Mr. Gonzales to immediately resign, as a few GOP lawmakers have suggested.

If he were to do so, that would further reduce House Republicans’ already threadbare majority down to 217, which would be less than a majority with all seats filled but would keep Republicans in charge due to vacancies. Democrats have 214 seats.

The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Gonzales’ office for comment.

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Mr. Gonzales said in a Wednesday interview with talk show host Joe Pags, which the congressman said he arranged to publicly confess to the affair, that he is not planning to resign or end his reelection campaign.

He said his district used to swing between the parties but he’s been able to win over four cycles, despite runoffs in three of them.

“I’m the only one that can hold it – not only win it in the primary, but also hold it in the general,” Mr. Gonzales said. “If we start losing districts like mine, we are absolutely going to lose the House.”

Mr. Gonzales, a married father of six, had the affair with Regina Santos-Aviles, who worked in his congressional office and was also married.

The congressman said he last talked to her in June 2024 and had nothing to do with her setting herself on fire last September.

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“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” he said. “Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which He has, and my faith is as strong as ever.”

Ms. Santos-Aviles died, and her widower has been involved in exposing the affair. Mr. Gonzales said Adrian Aviles has tried to shake him down for $300,000.

Last week, a lawyer for Mr. Aviles publicly released sexually explicit text messages that Mr. Gonzales sent to Ms. Santos-Aviles and her responses that showed she was uncomfortable with her boss’ initial overtures.

Mr. Gonzales did not discuss the text messages in the interview with Mr. Pags, but he decried the recent media attention surrounding the affair as a “coordinated attack” designed to hurt him as Texans voted in their primary this month.

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His GOP opponent Brandon Herrera, a pro-gun YouTube influencer whom he narrowly beat last cycle, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help Mr. Aviles and his son.

“Let’s step up as a community and help support the family where Tony Gonzales failed to, and help a single father raise young Axel and set him up for the future,” he said on the webpage for the fundraising campaign, which has raised more than $60,000.

Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Herrera are set to face off in a May runoff after neither secured an outright majority of votes cast in Texas’ primary election on Tuesday. Mr. Gonzales trailed Mr. Herrera by less than 1,000 votes.

House Republican leaders urging Mr. Gonzales to drop out is a de facto endorsement of Mr. Herrera, the party’s only remaining option.

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“I would like to thank Speaker Johnson and House leadership for holding Congressman Tony Gonzales accountable for actions that have tarnished the office,” Mr. Herrera said on social media. “I’m looking forward to representing the district the way the people of West Texas have always deserved.”

Katarina Flicker, spokesperson for the House Majority PAC, the Democratic leadership-aligned outside funding operation, attacked Mr. Herrera as an unacceptable candidate.

“The NRCC and Speaker Mike Johnson just threw their support behind Brandon Herrera,” whom she called “an antisemitic YouTuber whose record is far outside the mainstream.”

“Instead of condemning that extremism, Republican leadership is working to elect him to Congress,” she said. “It’s a disgrace, and it should alarm voters across the political spectrum. HMP will do whatever it takes to make sure Herrera never sets foot in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

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• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.