{"id":2577048,"date":"2026-03-06T17:40:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-congressman-ends-re-election-bid-amid-affair-scandal\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:42:23","slug":"gop-congressman-ends-re-election-bid-amid-affair-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-congressman-ends-re-election-bid-amid-affair-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Congressman Ends Re-election Bid Amid Affair Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-congressman-ends-re-election-bid-amid-affair-scandal%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2577048&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas republican Rep. Tony Gonzales has ended his bid for re-election after scrutiny over an affair with his former aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide last year. Gonzales announced he will not run in the runoff against Brandon Herrera and will complete his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-thanks-ill-be-skipping-the-inauguration\/\" title=\"No Thanks, I\u2019ll Be Skipping the Inauguration\">current term<\/a>, pledging to continue fighting for his constituents. He initially denied the relationship but later admitted to it, apologizing and taking responsibility, while saying the affair had nothing to do with Santos-Aviles\u2019 death. Text messages from 2024 show Gonzales asking for \u201csexy\u201d photos,with Santos-aviles and her husband discussing the exchanges; Adrian Aviles later filed for divorce. The House Ethics Committee opened an examination, and the Office of congressional Conduct found a ample reason to believe he violated House rules; Republican leaders urged him to withdraw. Herrera reacted to Gonzales\u2019s decision,expressing readiness to represent TX-23,with a focus on district issues.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A Republican Texas congressman who has been the focus of attention due to his affair with a former aide who died by suicide has ended his effort to keep his seat.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said he will not compete in a runoff election with Brandon Herrera.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I&rsquo;ve always had to my district,&rdquo; Gonzales said in a statement, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/03\/05\/tony-gonzales-texas-not-running-00816160\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Through the rest of my term, I will continue fighting for my constituents, for whom I am eternally grateful,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>After initially denying a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >sexual relationship<\/a> with former aide Regina Santos-Aviles, who died last year after setting herself on fire, Gonzales finally admitted to the sexual relationship.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); 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\t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; Gonzales has said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the affair had &ldquo;absolutely nothing to do with&rdquo; Santos-Aviles&rsquo; death.<\/p>\n<p>May 2024 texts show Gonzales, a married father of six, asking his aide for &ldquo;sexy&rdquo; photos, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/post\/is-going-far-boss-texas-rep-tony-gonzales-appears-pursue-staffer-died-explicit-text-messages\/18645758\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WABC-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t really want a hot picture of me,&rdquo; she wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just such a visual person,&rdquo; he wrote back, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-republicans-slam-democrats-alternative-retail-theft-ballot-measure-a-sham-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"California Republicans slam Democrats\u2019 alternative retail theft ballot measure: \u2018A sham\u2019 - Washington Examiner\">adding &#038;ldquo<\/a>;Sorry.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After being asked about her sexual preferences, Santos-Aviles replied, &ldquo;This is going too far boss,&rdquo; but also asked, &ldquo;How long have you thought I was this hot?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A June 2024 text from Adrian Aviles, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-conducts-pre-dawn-raid-at-home-of-ny-gov-kathy-hochuls-former-deputy-chief-of-staff\/\" title=\"FBI Conducts Pre-Dawn Raid at Home of NY Gov. Kathy Hochul&#039;s Former Deputy Chief of Staff\">aide&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s husband, said he was filing for divorce because of the messages between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales.<\/p>\n<p>As noted by Politico, House Republican leaders urged Gonzales to end his re-election bid.<\/p>\n<p>The House Ethics Committee has also been investigating him. Further, the Office of Congressional Conduct found &ldquo;a substantial reason to believe&rdquo; Gonzales broke House rules by having an affair with an employee.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman Tony Gonzales&rsquo;s conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously,&rdquo; House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans had said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Herrera responded to the decision by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheAKGuy\/status\/2029801353136968164\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posting on<\/a> X, &ldquo;I appreciate Tony Gonzales for making the appropriate decision. I look forward to being the voice of TX23 that our district deserves. From the border, to oil theft, water rights, data centers, and many other issues. It&rsquo;s an honor to be chosen and together we will make Texas proud.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Texas Republican congressman, Rep. Tony Gonzales, who had been in the spotlight over an affair with a former aide who died by suicide, has ended his bid for re-election. He said he would not compete in the runoff against Brandon Herrera and would finish his current term, continuing to work for his district. He later acknowledged the sexual relationship with Regina Santos-Aviles.<\/p>\n<p>Gonzales apologized, calling it a mistake and a lapse in judgment, and accepting responsibility. He insisted the affair had nothing to do with Santos-Aviles\u2019s death. Reports from May 2024 showed flirtatious exchanges and requests for sexy photos between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles, with her husband filing for divorce in June 2024 as a result.<\/p>\n<p>House Republican leaders had urged Gonzales to withdraw, and the House Ethics Committee was investigating him. The Office of Congressional Conduct said there was substantial reason to believe he violated House rules by having an affair with a staffer. After the decision to withdraw, Brandon Herrera posted that he looked forward to representing TX-23<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2577049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Texas-Rep-Tony-Gonzales.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4402,6203,5894],"class_list":["post-2577048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-congress","tag-gop","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Texas-Rep-Tony-Gonzales.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2577048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577052,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577048\/revisions\/2577052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2577049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2577048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2577048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2577048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}