Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) finally confirmed Wednesday that he had an affair with a staff member in his congressional office, doing so one day after Texas’s Republican primary and following months of public denials as allegations about the relationship circulated during the campaign.
Gonzales, who has repeatedly refused to resign, made the admission during a radio interview on The Joe Pags Show on March 4, a day after voters went to the polls in the Republican primary for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District. With 99 percent of votes counted, Gonzales finished behind challenger Brandon Herrera, receiving about 41.7 percent of the vote to Herrera’s 43.3 percent, setting up a May 26 runoff.
Gonzales said he “made a mistake,” had a “lapse in judgment,” and that there was “a lack of faith,” adding that he takes “full responsibility for those actions,” referring to a relationship with Regina Santos-Aviles, a regional district director in his office who died in September 2025 after pouring gasoline on herself and setting herself on fire in the backyard of her Uvalde, Texas, home.
The confession came after Gonzales had repeatedly denied or dismissed reports of an improper relationship for months as the allegations surfaced.
Last fall, the congressman rejected the claims outright. Speaking during a panel at the Texas Tribune Festival, Gonzales remarked, “The rumors are completely untruthful, and Regina’s family has asked for privacy.”
During his interview with Pags, Gonzales did not directly confirm or deny the authenticity of the text messages when asked about them. Pags asked whether the messages — including ones in which he commented that the aide was “hot” and discussed sexual topics — were real. Gonzales responded, “I’ll let the investigation play out and share all the different details on it,” while also asserting that the allegations against him “from day one has been about power and money” and were timed to coincide with early voting.
The affair allegations gained renewed attention during the primary after text messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles surfaced. Messages published in February show Gonzales asking the staffer to send him explicit photos and asking questions about sexual preferences in May 2024.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the two also met privately at a rental cabin near Uvalde on at least two occasions in May 2024.
In one exchange reported by the New York Post, Gonzales wrote “[S]end me a sexy pic” and later asked “What do you like, Anal?” while continuing to request photos. Santos-Aviles responded at one point that the conversation was going “too far.”
Gonzales alleged that Santos-Aviles’ estranged husband attempted to obtain money from him after her death.
According to the congressman, a lawyer representing the husband sought a $300,000 payment. Gonzales described the request as an attempt to “shake me down,” arguing the situation had been part of a “very coordinated attack” that was “intentional.”
CBS News reported that Gonzales had previously made the same claim publicly. Adrian Aviles’ attorney, Bobby Barrera, denied the extortion claims and told the outlet the letter referenced by Gonzales was a standard confidential settlement letter, accusing Gonzales of “trying to play the victim.”
The allegations have also raised questions about workplace conduct and pay within Gonzales’s office. Records reviewed by the Uvalde Leader-News show Santos-Aviles received a significant pay increase in 2024, the same year the relationship allegedly occurred. Her base quarterly salary rose from about $13,500 in late 2023 to roughly $17,000 in 2024, along with bonuses and other compensation totaling more than $4,000. Her total earnings in 2024 reached nearly $73,000, roughly $19,000 more than she made the previous year.
Some records show that other regional directors also received salary increases in 2024. The San Antonio Express-News reported that Gonzales’s office maintained it implemented an across-the-board salary adjustment that year, with other regional directors receiving raises and bonuses as well. The office explained the largest increase occurred in February 2024, months before the May 2024 text exchanges between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles, and that multiple staff members received comparable increases.
Asked about claims the raise was tied to the relationship during his interview Wednesday, Gonzales stated, “Absolutely false,” and insisted, “At no time was she reprimanded or rewarded in any form or fashion other than anyone else in the office.”
He contended the pay reporting relied on “half truths,” saying, “What they don’t tell you is that pay raise was February of 2024, right, before all these alleged incidents occurred,” and adding, “it was staff wide.” Gonzales said his office implemented “a staff wide pay increase” tied to performance and longevity and that bonuses were “standard,” concluding that “there was no formal complaints” and “no complaints of any issues whatsoever in any form or fashion” ever relayed against his office.
The House Ethics Committee announced on March 4 that it had voted to establish an investigative subcommittee to examine allegations that Gonzales may have engaged in sexual misconduct with an employee or provided special favors or privileges.
Under House rules, members are prohibited from engaging in sexual relationships with staff they supervise.
The ethics inquiry follows an earlier investigation by the Office of Congressional Conduct into allegations surrounding Gonzales and Santos-Aviles.
Wall Street Journal Congress reporter Olivia Beavers posted a reaction on X from a senior Republican lawmaker responding to Gonzales’s interview:
A senior Republican Member responding to Rep. Gonzales’ interview: ‘A total disaster. Tony Gonzales’ video is textbook case of what NOT to do. He shows no contrition or empathy for his staffer who died, shows no sincerity to his constituents for lying, and actually attacks the widower and family of his dead staffer. And smears the widower as gay.’
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) also weighed in following Gonzales’s remarks, writing:
“Representative Gonzalez has done the right thing by admitting fault in having an affair. Now he needs to make the responsible choice, focus on his family, and stop his current reelection bid for his congressional seat.”
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