March 5 (UPI) — House Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, on Thursday called on Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, to end his re-election race after admitting to an affair with a staffer that he had been denying for months.
Gonzales had, until Wednesday night, been denying he had an affair with former staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, in 2024 who later that year died by suicide after setting her self on fire.
The House Ethics Committee earlier Wednesday had announced an investigation into Gonzales over the affair and he later in the day acknowledged the tryst as a “lapse in judgement” and a “mistake.”
“Congressman Gonzales has said he will fully cooperate with the investigation,” Johnson said a the statement, which was also signed by House majority leader Steve Scalise, R-La., House majority whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and GOP conference chair Lisa C. McClain, R-Mich., Axios, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported.
“We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues,” the GOP leaders said in the statement. “In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”
Gonzales has denied the affair happened, despite Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian, sharing text messages the Congressman sent her asking for a “sexy pic,” resisted growing calls for him to either resign from Congress or at least drop out of his re-election race, The Post reported.
“I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales said on the radio show. “Since then, I have reconciled with my wife, Angel, and I’ve asked God to forgive me — which he has — and my faith is as strong as ever.”
In Tuesday’s primary, Gonzales faced YouTuber Brandon Herrera, suffering a loss narrow enough to trigger a runoff vote on May 23.
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