\n<\/p>\n
Newly published text messages show Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) repeatedly sought nude photos and a sexual relationship with his campaign political director during his 2020 congressional campaign, years before his affair with congressional staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, which he recently admitted to.<\/span><\/p>\n San Antonio Express-News state politics reporter Bayliss Wagner <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> Monday that Gonzales, then a first-time congressional candidate running to succeed retiring Rep. Will Hurd in Texas\u2019s 23rd Congressional District, sent sexually explicit messages to his campaign\u2019s political director in June 2020 and propositioned her again a few days after he declared victory in the July 15, 2020, GOP runoff.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Wagner\u2019s coverage, Gonzales began by responding to frustrations the woman expressed about dating, telling her she was a \u201csmart girl\u201d and should not \u201csettle.\u201d He then shifted the conversation toward increasingly intimate questions, asking when she usually went to sleep, what she wore to bed, and eventually, \u201cWhat kind of panties do you wear?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The report states that within hours Gonzales, a married father of six, was asking the campaign aide to send him nude photographs and describing sexual acts he wanted to engage in. After the woman repeatedly declined his requests for photographs, Gonzales responded, \u201c47 nos is about my limit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The following day, Gonzales again asked for a picture, and then again the next day. Wagner wrote that Gonzales texted the aide on June 15, 2020, \u201cI know what I want and won\u2019t stop until I get it.\u201d The aide replied with a facepalm emoji and answered, \u201cYou better do that in Congress,\u201d adding, \u201cAnd take me with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Express-News reported Gonzales asked the aide more than a dozen times over three days to send nude photos, continuing to press her after she twice sent images that concealed most of her body. The paper also reported Gonzales attempted over several weeks to persuade the woman to begin a sexual relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Wagner, Gonzales twice visited the aide at her home in June 2020, but the relationship never became physical. \u201cWe didn\u2019t so much as touch,\u201d she told the Express-News.<\/span><\/p>\n On June 13, Gonzales asked if he could come over for a late-night drink \u201cwithout doing anything.\u201d After leaving, he texted her: \u201cOkay you have two options\u2026 I left (as I did) and we continue the mystery\u201d or \u201cI stayed and we f\u2014ed like rabbits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She replied, \u201cLeave. And let the mystery build.\u201d Gonzales later asked to return, telling her, \u201cIf I come over though your panties are coming off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The next night, they again met at her home. Afterward, Gonzales told her he felt unwanted. When she replied that he had \u201cgot weird last night,\u201d Gonzales again asked for a photo.<\/span><\/p>\n The woman, who joined Gonzales\u2019s campaign as a volunteer in April 2020 and became political director in June, eventually stopped engaging with his advances. After Gonzales won the July 2020 runoff by seven votes over Raul Reyes, he again texted her: \u201cWow. Still in shock\u2026You turned me down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The woman, an Army veteran who now volunteers for Brandon Herrera, said she regretted having \u201cplayed\u201d Gonzales and told the Express-News, \u201cI\u2019m not totally innocent in all this,\u2019 but came forward after learning of the 2025 death of Gonzales aide Regina Santos-Aviles. She said Gonzales \u201cobviously pursued, pursued, pursued her like he did with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Herrera, a conservative YouTube personality and gun-rights activist, finished ahead of Gonzales in the March Republican primary for Texas\u2019s 23rd Congressional District. Gonzales later <\/span>withdrew<\/span><\/a> from the race amid the growing scandal, making Herrera the Republican nominee.<\/span><\/p>\n Santos-Aviles <\/span>died<\/span><\/a> in September 2025 after pouring gasoline on herself and being engulfed in flames at her home in Uvalde. Police said they did not suspect foul play, while her family maintained she did not intentionally start the fire.<\/span><\/p>\n After months of denials, Gonzales <\/span>admitted<\/span><\/a> on March 4 during an appearance on The Joe Pags Show<\/em> that he had an affair with Santos-Aviles, calling it a \u201cmistake\u201d and \u201ca lapse in judgment\u201d for which he took \u201cfull responsibility.\u201d He had previously said at the Texas Tribune Festival that \u201cThe rumors are completely untruthful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Earlier reports showed Gonzales <\/span>asked<\/span><\/a> Santos-Aviles for \u201csexy pics\u201d and discussed sexual topics with her in 2024. The San Antonio Express-News also reported the two met privately at a rental cabin near Uvalde.<\/span><\/p>\n On March 4, the House Ethics Committee <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> an investigative subcommittee to examine whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct toward a congressional employee or dispensed special favors. House rules prohibit members from having sexual relationships with employees they supervise.<\/span><\/p>\n The next day, Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain <\/span>urged<\/span><\/a> Gonzales to withdraw from his reelection campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n Several House Republicans also called for Gonzales to resign or face punishment, including Reps. Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, Thomas Massie, and Anna Paulina Luna.<\/span><\/p>\n After Wagner\u2019s latest report, Luna <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNO means NO.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d vote to expel both him and<\/span> Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Both need to go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n