Regina Santos-aviles texts show Rep. Tony Gonzales asked for 'sexy pic' as questions swirl before primary
Text messages show Rep. Tony Gonzales asked staffer regina santos-aviles for a “sexy pic” just after midnight on May 9, 2024, and the exchanges have re-emerged as Gonzales faces a tight primary next week and as the staffer later died after setting herself on fire in September 2025.
Midnight message and a pushed-back reply
Just after midnight on May 9, 2024, the congressman repeatedly asked an employee for an explicit photo, texting “Will you share your thoughts in our annual survey?” followed shortly by a request for a “sexy pic, ” the messages show. When she pushed back and said the conversation had gone too far, Gonzales persisted, writing that he was “just such a visual person. ”
Regina Santos-aviles was Gonzales’ Uvalde district director
The woman named in the messages, Regina Santos-Aviles in news coverage and identified in the texts as the congressman’s district director in Uvalde, died in September 2025 after lighting herself on fire. She died the next day at a hospital in San Antonio. She and her husband, Adrian Aviles, shared an 8-year-old son.
Husband shared the texts and described impacts
Adrian Aviles shared the text messages with The Texas Tribune on Monday as what he called evidence of an affair between Gonzales and his wife. Aviles told the San Antonio Express-News that the relationship and the professional ostracization his wife faced after the matter was discovered led her to become despondent before her death.
Police report details what she told officers
Gonzales called for the full police report related to Santos-Aviles’ death to be released; Uvalde officials provided the report to The Texas Tribune on Monday. The report says Santos-Aviles told responding officers that she set herself on fire because her husband was romantically involved with her best friend. A friend told the detective investigating her death that the couple had been estranged for several months after “Regina's supposed affair” strained the relationship.
Gonzales' response and campaign fallout
Gonzales did not respond to a request for comment on the messages. In November he called rumors of an affair “completely untruthful. ” In recent days, as more evidence has emerged, he has sidestepped direct denials, accusing Adrian Aviles of trying to blackmail him and blaming his opponent in next week’s primary, Brandon Herrera, for politicizing the issue.
Rival presses and the primary next week
Herrera, a gun rights activist and YouTuber who nearly unseated Gonzales in 2024, has run ads and social posts saying Gonzales had a “taxpayer funded affair with a married staffer, which led to her death by self-immolation, ” and has urged Gonzales to step down. Herrera has rebuffed the congressman as the campaign heads into next week’s primary.
The immediate next event on the calendar is the primary next week; meanwhile, the released police report and the newly shared text messages are central to ongoing questions surrounding the congressman and the circumstances that followed the Uvalde staffer’s death.
