Rep. Tony Gonzales Admits Affair With Staffer Who Later Died by Suicide After Setting Herself On Fire

The cat is finally out of the bag.

Representative Tony Gonzales (R-TX) has finally admitted he had an affair with a former staffer who committed suicide after setting herself on fire.

Rep. Gonzales made the confession after failing to secure the votes needed to win his Republican primary, putting him in a runoff against his opponent, Brandon Herrera.

People provided further details on Honzalez’s scandals:

Rep. Tony Gonzales admitted to having a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide, hours after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into the Texas Republican.

“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said in an interview with conservative talk show host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo, published on Wednesday, March 4. “Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has. And my faith is as strong as ever.”

The interview was published a day after the Texas primary elections. Gonzales, 45, failed to get 50% of the vote in his House district to earn the Republican nomination outright on Tuesday, March 3, sending him into a runoff election against gun activist Brandon Herrera that will occur on May 26. The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Katy Padilla Stout in November.

Gonzales staffer Regina Santos-Aviles died by suicide in September 2025 at her property in Uvalde, Texas.

Here’s his confession:

🚨 BREAKING: RINO Rep. Tony Gonzales ADMITS that he had an affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who KlLLED HERSELF shortly after the affair he pressured her into

This scumbag has been lying about the affair for WEEKS.

DROP OUT, TONY. You’re a DISGRACE.

VOTE HERRERA, TX-23 pic.twitter.com/INoRcpk92X

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 5, 2026

PBS reported the House has started an ethics investigation into his actions:

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.

The congressman, now in his third term, has said he would not step down in response to the allegations, telling reporters at the Capitol recently that there will be opportunities for all the details and facts to come out.

“What you’ve seen is not all the facts,” Gonzales said.

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Gonzales, a father of six, first won his seat in 2020 after retiring from a 20-year career in the Navy that included time in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Tuesday, he was forced into a May runoff against Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and YouTube gun-rights influencer who narrowly lost to Gonzales in the 2024 primary.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that it had obtained text messages in which the former Gonzales staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the congressman.

The AP has not independently obtained copies of the messages. A lawyer for Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles’ husband, has said the husband found out about the affair before his wife’s death.

Santos-Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her home in Uvalde, Texas. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a suicide.

Here’s a photo of the staffer:

Rep. Tony Gonzales aide who self-immolated admitted affair with lawmaker, text shows https://t.co/Qkez86VFx5 pic.twitter.com/0AP6KwjwXB

— New York Post (@nypost) February 18, 2026

How does it strike you?