Tony Gonzales Faces New Text Evidence After Uvalde Aide’s Death as Political Pressure Mounts

Just after midnight on May 9, 2024, messages exchanged with a staffer show U. S. Rep. tony gonzales pressed for a “sexy pic” and said he was "just such a visual person. " The emergence of the texts and a police report has intensified scrutiny of the congressman days before a primary, raising questions about conduct, accountability and political consequences.

Tony Gonzales’ messages from May 9, 2024

The text thread from just after midnight on May 9, 2024, captures an interaction in which the congressman sought an explicit photograph from Regina Santos-Aviles, who was his district director in Uvalde. When Santos-Aviles pushed back and said the exchange had gone too far, the messages show the congressman persisted, telling her he was "just such a visual person. " Her husband has provided those texts as evidence he says point to an affair.

Regina Santos-Aviles’ death and the Uvalde police report

Santos-Aviles died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire. Uvalde officials provided the full police report on Monday. The report notes that she told responding officers she set herself on fire because her husband was romantically involved with her best friend. The document also records that the couple had been estranged for several months after what a friend described to the investigating detective as "Regina's supposed affair. " Santos-Aviles died the next day at a hospital in San Antonio; she and her husband shared an 8-year-old son.

Adrian Aviles’ sharing of texts and his account

Adrian Aviles shared the text messages on Monday as part of what he called proof of an affair between his wife and the congressman. He has said the relationship and the professional ostracization his wife faced after it was discovered contributed to her becoming despondent in the months before her death. The husband’s decision to make the texts public has been a central catalyst for renewed attention to the matter.

Brandon Herrera and the political fallout

Gonzales is in a contested reelection fight and faces Brandon Herrera in a primary next week. Herrera, a gun rights activist and YouTuber who nearly unseated Gonzales in 2024, has repeatedly targeted the congressman over the episode. In ads and on social media, Herrera has accused Gonzales of a "taxpayer funded affair with a married staffer, which led to her death by self-immolation, " and has said Gonzales should resign. Gonzales has pushed back against the political framing.

Gonzales’ responses and official actions

Gonzales did not respond to a request for comment on the newly released texts and report. In November he had called rumors of an affair "completely untruthful. " As more material surfaced in the last week, he has not issued a direct denial; instead he has accused Adrian Aviles of attempting to blackmail him and has blamed his opponent for politicizing the issue. He has also demanded the full police report be released, an action that preceded the provision of that report by Uvalde officials on Monday.

Gonzales represents the 23rd Congressional District, the state’s largest, which stretches across the southwestern border and into San Antonio. He is married and has six children.

What makes this notable is how a set of dated private messages, the official account in a police report and a widow’s husband going public have converged in the run-up to a critical primary, turning personal tragedy into a central campaign issue. The timing matters because the disclosures arrive immediately before a primary election and have prompted calls for accountability from the congressman’s challenger.

The sequence of events in the provided records is clear: the May 9, 2024 texts show the congressman seeking explicit photos; Santos-Aviles pushed back; she later set herself on fire in September 2025 and died the next day; her husband released the texts on Monday and has linked the relationship and subsequent ostracization to her decline; the congressman has sought release of the police report and has characterized the disclosures as politicized or extortionate. Some details remain unclear in the provided context.