Texas lawmaker ends re-election bid after admitting to affair with ex-staffer

Texas Republican congressman Tony Gonzales is ending his bid for re-election but said he will serve out his term, following his admitting, after repeated denials, that he had an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.

Gonzales announced his plan late on Thursday after facing calls from party leadership to withdraw from the race for re-election this November. Others in Congress had called on him to resign his seat.

“After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election,” Gonzales posted on X.

The House ethics committee earlier this week said it had opened an investigation into allegations into the representative, including his affair with Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who died at age 35 last September.

The top Republican and Democratic members on the committee said in a joint statement that an investigative panel would look into whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee in his office and whether he discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.

Gonzales’s decision on Thursday appears to clear the field. On Tuesday, he had been forced into a May runoff against Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and YouTube gun-rights influencer who narrowly lost to him in the 2024 primary.

Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, and GOP leadership earlier Thursday had called on Gonzales to withdraw from re-election after he acknowledged the relationship that has upturned the political world in his home state and in Washington DC.

“We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues,” said Johnson, House majority leader Steve Scalise, Republican whip Tom Emmer, and GOP conference chair Lisa McClain, in a statement, which added: “In the meantime, leadership has asked congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for reelection.”

GOP leaders notably did not call for Gonzales to resign from office as they struggle to maintain their slim majority in the House, which they hold by only a handful of seats.

Johnson has been under enormous pressure from his own GOP lawmakers to take action, and several Republicans have already called for Gonzales to step aside. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican congresswoman, has introduced two resolutions in the House to punish Gonzales with removal from committees and an official censure.

Hakeem Jeffries, the US House Democratic leader, of New York, meanwhile, said he would support expelling Gonzales from the House, a rare step that requires a two-thirds vote from the chamber.

Gonzales is in his third term and has refused to step down from office.

Under House ethics rules, lawmakers may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House under their supervision.

The Associated Press contributed reporting