The top Republican challenger to Representative Tony Gonzales demanded he withdraw from the primary race following allegations the congressman engaged in an extramarital affair with an aide who later died by suicide, the Wall Street Journal reports.
As early voting commenced in Texas, Brandon Herrera stated Gonzales should discontinue his reelection campaign because of an alleged relationship with aide Regina Santos Aviles, who died last year after setting herself on fire. Separately, the attorney for Santos Aviles's husband said Gonzales publicly needs to accept accountability for what he described as an inappropriate sexual affair between a boss and subordinate.
Renewed focus on Gonzales emerged after a news report in the San Antonio Express News included a screenshot of a text message from April 2025 appearing to show Santos Aviles, a former regional director for Gonzales, acknowledging to another aide that she "had [an] affair with our boss." The Wall Street Journal has not independently verified the screenshot.
Gonzales, a Navy veteran serving his third House term, has previously dismissed allegations of an improper relationship. In a Wednesday statement, he did not directly address whether there had been an affair. He praised Santos Aviles's work in the southwestern Texas community and blamed Herrera for using a "disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points" as early voting began.
Gonzales said he is "not going to engage in these personal smears and instead will remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans."
Santos Aviles worked for Gonzales from November 2021, his first year in office, until her death in mid September 2025. Local authorities ruled the death a suicide.
Herrera, a YouTuber known as the AK Guy challenging Gonzales in the primary, said the incumbent should resign and leave the race, alleging he "broke House ethics rules by having an adulterous affair with a member of his congressional staff." Herrera narrowly lost to Gonzales in the 2024 primary runoff.
Gonzales, a married father of six, received a major boost in his reelection bid by securing Trump's endorsement in December. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for House Speaker Mike Johnson also did not respond. Johnson currently maintains a 218 to 214 majority in the House.
The Daily Mail earlier reported allegations of an improper relationship in October. Gonzales's first public response came in mid November during an interview at TribFest, an annual political event hosted by the Texas Tribune. "The rumors are completely untruthful," Gonzales said at the time.
Besides Herrera, Gonzales's challengers in the March 3 GOP primary include former Texas Representative Quico Canseco and Marine Corps veteran Keith Barton.
Texas Republicans must reject weak establishment figures like Tony Gonzales who undermine immigration restriction efforts by calling enforcement measures "un-American," vote against Second Amendment rights by supporting red flag laws and expanded background checks, and champion hawkish foreign interventions by funding endless wars in Ukraine while American communities face invasion at the southern border.
The GOP needs representatives committed to America First principles including solid immigration restriction measures, constitutional gun rights, and non interventionist foreign policy, not globalist lawmakers who prioritize corporate donor interests and neoconservative military adventurism over the safety and sovereignty of American citizens.
