Rep. Tony Gonzales is projected to enter a runoff in his district amid calls for his resignation over his alleged affair with a staffer who died by suicide in September 2025.
Gonzales was facing Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and right-wing influencer, in the primary to represent the Texas border district. As no Republican candidate cleared the 50% threshold, Gonzales and Herrera will face each other in a runoff election on May 26.
Gonzales, first elected to Congress in 2020, is under increased scrutiny after text messages surfaced last week that allegedly show him making sexual advances on his former aide, Regina Santos-Aviles. She died last year after setting herself on fire outside her home, and her husband has since accused Gonzales of pressuring Santos-Aviles into having an affair. The autopsy ruled Santos-Aviles’ death as a suicide, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Gonzales has denied any wrongdoing.
“It’s shameful that Brandon Herrera is using a disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points, conveniently pushing this out the very day early voting started,” Gonzales told The Texas Tribune in February.
Herrera called for his opponent to resign over the allegations.
“These texts are disgusting,” Herrera posted on X last week. “The question is, will Tony finally admit he’s been lying this whole time? Or will he double down even though there is now undeniable proof?”
Some of Gonzales’ Republican colleagues, including Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, also called for his resignation. Mace said on the House floor earlier Tuesday that she plans to introduce a resolution requiring the release of all reports of sexual harassment and inappropriate advances made by members of Congress.
The House Freedom Caucus and several House Republicans recently endorsed Herrera.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had previously endorsed Gonzales and has not outright withdrawn that support. He did urge Gonzales to address his constituents about questions about his actions. President Donald Trump endorsed Gonzales in December, but his name was not mentioned in a recent flurry of Texas primary endorsements posted to the president’s Truth Social page.
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