Regina Santos-aviles texts show Rep. Tony Gonzales asked for 'sexy pic' from aide
Just after midnight on May 9, 2024, U. S. Rep. Tony Gonzales begged an employee, Regina Santos-aviles, to send him a “sexy pic, ” text messages show, an exchange now central to renewed scrutiny of the congressman as he faces a contested primary next week. The aide later died in September 2025 after lighting herself on fire.
What the texts to Regina Santos-aviles show
The messages include a line in which Gonzales wrote he was “just such a visual person” after Santos-Aviles pushed back and said the conversation had gone too far. Her husband, Adrian Aviles, shared these text messages with The Texas Tribune on Monday as evidence of an affair between the congressman and his staffer. The San Antonio Express-News first published the text messages, Aviles told that paper.
Police report details and her death
Uvalde officials provided a police report to The Texas Tribune on Monday. The report says Santos-Aviles told responding officers 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. Santos-Aviles died the next day at a hospital in San Antonio; she and Adrian Aviles shared an 8-year-old son.
Gonzales’ public response and denials
Gonzales did not respond to a request for comment. In November he had called rumors of an affair between him and Regina Santos-Aviles “completely untruthful. ” As more material has been released over the last week, he has sidestepped direct denials and instead accused Adrian Aviles of trying to blackmail him and blamed his opponent, Brandon Herrera, for politicizing the issue. Gonzales has also called for the full police report related to Santos-Aviles’ death to be released.
Political fallout in a tight 23rd District race
Gonzales, a married San Antonio Republican with six children, 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 who nearly unseated Gonzales in 2024, is taking another swing at the seat. In ads and on social media, Herrera has hammered Gonzales for what he called a “taxpayer funded affair with a married staffer, which led to her death by self-immolation, ” and Herrera has also said Gonzales should step down and rebuffed the congressman.
How the material surfaced and what officials have released
Adrian Aviles shared the messages with The Texas Tribune on Monday; he told the San Antonio Express-News that his wife’s alleged relationship and the professional ostracization she faced after it was discovered left her despondent before her death. Uvalde officials provided investigators’ records and the police report to The Texas Tribune on Monday at Gonzales’ request for the full report to be released.
The next immediate milestone on this story is the district’s primary election next week, when voters will weigh Gonzales’ bid for reelection against Herrera; officials have also made the police report available to news outlets and said the document was provided on Monday.
