The House Ethics Committee launched a formal investigation into Rep. Tony Gonzales Wednesday, establishing a panel to probe allegations that the Texas Republican “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
The announcement comes as Gonzales faces a 12-week runoff campaign to keep the Republican nomination for the south Texas seat he has held for three terms. He narrowly trails challenger Brandon Herrera in the latest returns from Tuesday’s election but neither candidate is on track to win an outright majority, setting up a May 23 runoff.
Gonzales has denied wrongdoing and thus far resisted calls from within his own party to resign as details of an alleged relationship with a former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, have emerged in recent weeks. She died by suicide after setting herself on fire in 2025.
Gonzales did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, navigating a tight GOP majority, said last week that he wanted to see how the election played out and that Gonzales was entitled to due process. It could take months or longer for the Ethics Committee to finish its investigation and recommend any discipline.
Gonzales is alleged to have pursued a sexual relationship with Santos-Aviles and tried to coerce her into sending explicit photos, according to text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News and other publications. POLITICO has not independently reviewed the messages.
House rules prohibit members, such as Gonzales, from having “a sexual relationship” or engaging in “unwelcome sexual advances” with their staffers.
The Ethics Committee’s deliberations are usually shrouded in secrecy, and it sometimes takes years to deliver any sort of conclusion. Allegations that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accepted improper gifts relating to the 2021 Met Gala, for instance, were not ruled upon until 2025.
Similarly, the Ethics panel took several years to issue a report on a 2020 stock trade made by the wife of Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) that was alleged to have been done using nonpublic information. Kelly was scolded in 2025 by the committee for not fully cooperating with the investigation with a strongly worded letter of disapproval.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
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