Regina Santos-aviles: Text messages show Rep. Tony Gonzales pressed aide for 'sexy pic'

Just after midnight on May 9, 2024, U. S. Rep. Tony Gonzales texted his district director in Uvalde, asking Regina Santos-aviles to send a “sexy pic. ” The messages, disclosed this week by her husband and included in a police report, have intensified scrutiny of Gonzales as he faces a contested primary.

May 9 exchange: 'just such a visual person' and the pushback

Text messages from the early hours of May 9, 2024 show Tony Gonzales pressing an employee, Regina Santos-aviles, for a “sexy pic. ” When Santos-aviles pushed back and told him the conversation had gone too far, Gonzales persisted, texting that he was “just such a visual person. ” The messages identify Santos-aviles as Gonzales’ district director in Uvalde.

September 2025 self-immolation and hospital death

Santos-aviles died in September 2025 after lighting herself on fire. She died the next day at a hospital in San Antonio. The police report investigators released this week says she told responding officers she set herself on fire because her husband was romantically involved with her best friend.

Husband Adrian Aviles shared texts and described ostracization

Her husband, Adrian Aviles, provided the text messages to journalists on Monday as evidence of an affair between Gonzales and his staffer. Adrian Aviles told a San Antonio newspaper that the relationship and the professional ostracization his wife faced after it was discovered led her to become despondent before her death. The couple had been estranged for several months after what a friend described to a detective as “Regina’s supposed affair. ” Santos-aviles and Aviles shared an 8-year-old son.

Gonzales' denials, later statements and calls for the police report

Tony Gonzales has said earlier that rumors of an affair between him and Regina Santos-aviles were “completely untruthful. ” He did not respond to a request for comment on the newly disclosed messages. In recent days, as more evidence has surfaced, he has sidestepped direct denials, accused Adrian Aviles of attempting to blackmail him, and blamed his primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, for politicizing the issue. Gonzales has also called for the full police report related to Santos-aviles’ death to be released; Uvalde officials provided the report to reporters on Monday.

Political stakes: a crowded fight for the 23rd District

Gonzales is married with six children and represents the 23rd Congressional District, the state’s largest, which stretches across the southwestern border and into San Antonio. He is facing a tough reelection bid: Brandon Herrera, a gun rights activist and YouTuber, has mounted another challenge after nearly unseating Gonzales in 2024. Herrera has used ads and social media to accuse Gonzales of a “taxpayer funded affair with a married staffer, which led to her death by self-immolation, ” and has said Gonzales should step down. Herrera has also publicly rebuffed Gonzales as the controversy has unfolded.