GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas ends reelection bid after admitting to affair with aide : NPR

FILE – Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Mariam Zuhaib/AP

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Mariam Zuhaib/AP

WASHINGTON — Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales said Thursday night he is withdrawing from his re-election race after admitting to an affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide, but he vowed to finish his term in Congress.

He had faced calls from Republican Party leaders to end his re-election bid, and from other members of Congress to resign.

“After deep consideration and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to run again,” Gonzales said in a statement released Thursday evening on X.

The move is the latest in a rapidly evolving situation that has stunned Capitol Hill and prompted a House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct. Gonzales’ decision to withdraw from the race appears to clear the field. As of Tuesday, he was forced into a May runoff against Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and pro-gun rights YouTube influencer, who narrowly lost to him in the 2024 primary.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leaders had called earlier Thursday on Gonzales to withdraw from re-election after Gonzales, a day earlier, admitted to a relationship that had shaken the political world in his home state and in Washington.

“We encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and colleagues,” Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer and GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, leadership has asked Rep. Gonzales to withdraw from his re-election race.”

Johnson, R-La., has been under enormous pressure from his own Republican lawmakers to act, and several Republicans have already called on Gonzales to step down. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced two resolutions to punish Gonzales. The former seeks to remove him from his positions on the House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees, while the latter seeks to censure him.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, meanwhile, said he would support expelling Gonzales from the House, a rare step that requires a two-thirds vote of the chamber.

GOP leaders have notably not called for Gonzales’ resignation as they struggle to maintain their slim majority in the House, which they hold by only a handful of seats.

Their decision came after Gonzales, appearing on the “Joe Pags Show,” was asked if he had a relationship with the assistant, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles.

Santos-Aviles, 35, died after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her home in Uvalde, Texas. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled his death a suicide.

“I made a mistake, I made an error of judgment, there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said.

The congressman, now in his third term, said he would not resign in response to the allegations, recently telling reporters there would be opportunities for all the details and facts to come to light.

Gonzales, a father of six, first won his seat in 2020 after retiring from a 20-year career in the Navy, which included time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the interview that aired Wednesday, Gonzales said he had not spoken to Santos-Aviles since June 2024. She died in September 2025.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with his tragic passing, and in fact, I was shocked as much as everyone else,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales went on to say that he reconciled with his wife, Angel, and asked God to forgive her. He also said he looked forward to the Ethics Committee’s investigation.

Johnson and GOP leaders urged that committee to “act quickly.”

Under House ethics rules, lawmakers cannot have sexual relations with a House employee under their supervision.