Regina Santos-aviles texts show Rep. Tony Gonzales asked aide for 'sexy pic' as campaign turmoil grows
Text messages shared publicly this week show regina santos-aviles, the district director for Uvalde, was asked by U. S. Rep. Tony Gonzales to send a "sexy pic" just after midnight on May 9, 2024, and the exchange has become central to an escalating fight over the congressman’s reelection bid.
Messages include repeated requests late on May 9, 2024
The texts, which Regina Santos-aviles sent and later were turned over by her husband, show that when she pushed back — saying the conversation had gone too far — Gonzales persisted, telling her he was "just such a visual person. " The timing of the messages is pinned to just after midnight on May 9, 2024.
Husband shared the messages and the police report was released
Adrian Aviles gave the text messages to The Texas Tribune on Monday and told the San Antonio Express-News, which first published the texts, that the alleged relationship and the workplace ostracization his wife faced after it became known left her despondent before her death in September 2025. Uvalde officials provided a full police report to The Texas Tribune on Monday at Gonzales’ request.
What the police report and investigators recorded
The police report says Santos-Aviles told responding officers she set herself on fire because her husband was romantically involved with her best friend. The report also records that the couple had been estranged for several months after what a friend described to a detective as "Regina's supposed affair. " Santos-Aviles died the next day at a hospital in San Antonio; she and Adrian Aviles shared an 8-year-old son.
Regina Santos-aviles was Uvalde district director
Regina Santos-aviles served as Gonzales’ district director in Uvalde. Her death in September 2025 and the release of the text messages have become a focal point in the congressman’s campaign ahead of next week’s primary.
Gonzales' statements, campaign pressure and Herrera's role
Gonzales, who is married and has six children, did not respond to a request for comment this week. He said in November that rumors of an affair were "completely untruthful, " but as more evidence emerged over the last week he sidestepped direct denials, accused Adrian Aviles of trying to blackmail him and blamed his Republican primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, for politicizing the issue. Herrera, a gun rights activist and YouTuber who nearly unseated Gonzales in 2024, has pressed the congressman in ads and on social media, calling the matter a "taxpayer funded affair with a married staffer, which led to her death by self-immolation, " and saying Gonzales should step down; Herrera also rebuffed the congressman.
What happens next
The controversy arrives with Gonzales fighting a tough reelection bid in the 23rd Congressional District, the state’s largest district that stretches across the southwestern border and into San Antonio. The next confirmed event on the calendar is the primary vote next week, when voters will decide whether Gonzales or Herrera advances in the race.
