Jim: Tony Gonzales refuses to resign amid allegations tied to aide’s death

U. S. Rep. Tony Gonzales refused growing calls to resign after allegations he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, and jim has become a persistent tag in the unfolding controversy that has roiled his re-election bid.

Jim: Republican colleagues demand immediate action and transparency

On Tuesday, Gonzales told reporters he would not resign, saying, “There will be an opportunity for all the details and facts to come out. What you’ve seen is not all the facts. And there will be ample time for all of that to come out. ” Several House Republicans joined calls for him to step down: Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Nancy Mace of South Carolina pressed for his resignation. The pressure followed earlier calls on Monday from Texas Republicans Brandon Gill and Chip Roy.

Brandon Gill endorsed Gonzales’s main opponent and said, “America deserves better, ” adding, “Tony should drop out of the race. ” Nancy Mace announced she has introduced a resolution to force the House ethics committee to publicly release its wider reports and records of allegations of sexual harassment against members of Congress. House speaker Mike Johnson said he would speak to Gonzales and that the accusations “must be taken seriously, ” while stopping short of demanding resignation. Johnson added, “In every case like this, you have to allow the investigation to play out and all the facts to come out, ” and warned, “If the accusation of something is going to be the litmus for someone being able to continue to serve in the House, a lot of people would have to resign or be removed or expelled from Congress. ” Donald Trump endorsed Gonzales for reelection in December.

Late-night texts show explicit requests on May 9, 2024

Just after midnight on May 9, 2024, messages show U. S. Rep. Tony Gonzales asked an employee, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, to send him a “sexy pic. ” A specific message timestamped at 12. 15am on 9 May is quoted as saying, “Send me a sexy pic. ” The messages include language in which he appeared to pressure the senior staffer to share images of herself, asked about her favorite sex positions and fantasized about having sex, and that he eventually coerced her into a sexual relationship, as alleged in the materials made public this week.

Santos-Aviles, identified in the material as 35 years old and the congressman’s district director in Uvalde, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the married lawmaker. When she pushed back in the exchange and said the conversation had gone too far, the messages show the married San Antonio Republican persisted and wrote that he was “just such a visual person. ” A San Antonio daily first published that it had obtained the text messages last week.

Death of Regina Ann Santos-Aviles and police-report details

Regina Ann Santos-Aviles died in September 2025 after lighting herself on fire. The police report provided to reporters states she told responding officers that she set herself on fire because her husband was romantically involved with her best friend. The couple had been estranged for several months after “Regina’s supposed affair” strained the relationship, a friend told the detective investigating her death. Santos-Aviles died the next day at a hospital in San Antonio.

Her husband, Adrian Aviles, shared the text messages with reporters on Monday as evidence of an affair between the congressman and his staffer. Adrian Aviles also told a San Antonio paper that the relationship and the professional ostracization his wife faced after it was discovered led her to become despondent before her death. The couple shared an 8-year-old son.

Gonzales’s denials, calls for documents and campaign fallout

Gonzales, a three-term congressman who represents the 23rd Congressional District — described in the material as the state’s largest, stretching across the southwestern border and into San Antonio — has denied the affair. He has previously said on social media that he is being blackmailed and called the allegations a political smear. In November he said the rumors of an affair were “completely untruthful. ”

As more evidence emerged, Gonzales sidestepped direct denials and accused Adrian Aviles of trying to blackmail him while blaming his opponent, Brandon Herrera, for politicizing the issue. Gonzales has called for the full police report related to Santos-Aviles’s death to be released; Uvalde officials provided the report on Monday. He did not respond to a request for comment, and a national newspaper that reached out to Gonzales did not immediately receive a response. Gonzales is married with six children — described elsewhere in the material as a father-of-six — and is running for re-election, facing a Republican primary on 3 March.

Brandon Herrera’s attacks and the risk to the seat

Brandon Herrera is identified in the material as Gonzales’s main GOP rival and as someone who almost unseated him in 2024. The context describes Herrera in different terms: in one instance as a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer, and elsewhere as a gun rights activist and YouTuber. Herrera has run ads and posted on social media accusing 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.

The scandal has thrown Gonzales’s bruising re-election campaign into further turmoil, prompting chatter that Democrats might have a chance to flip the seat. A fragment in one report about Santos-Aviles’s account of events is truncated and unclear in the provided context.