SAN ANTONIO, Tx., March 16, 2026: New reporting by the San Antonio Express shows that a group of unnamed congressmen forced Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) to drop out of the runoff to keep his seat against Brandon Herrera. Herrera is now the Republican nominee for the Texas 23rd Congressional District, which includes parts of El Paso. Herrera will face Katy Padilla Stout on November 3rd.
Gonzales’ reelection campaign was mired in controversy after a former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles committed suicide last September by setting herself on fire.
Almost immediately rumors of an affair between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles surfaced. Gonzales, who is married, denied the affair with Santos-Aviles, who was also married.
After months of speculation over the rumor, Gonzales admitted to the affair after being forced into a runoff election by Herrera. But Gonzales at the time said he would stay in the race for the seat.
The following day after admitting to the affair on talk radio, Gonzales announced he was dropping out of the runoff election, leaving Herrera as the GOP nominee.
New reporting by the San Antonio Express-News last Thursday reveals that Gonzales’ decision to dropout out came after unnamed members of Congress sought copies of additional text messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles. The additional text messages were provided to the unnamed House members by Robert J. “Bobby” Barrera, who represents Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles. The phone containing the additional text messages is in Adrian Aviles’ possession. He provided the text messages to Barrera, who in turn gave them to the congresspeople.
As the House Ethics Committee was announcing an investigation on March 3rd against Gonzales for violating House rules against engaging in sexual relations with staff members, Barrera told the newspaper that members of Congress reached out to him for the text messages.
Barrera told the newspaper that he provided “about a dozen graphic texts about sexual requests and positions” to the congressmen. They then used the newly acquired text messages to “persuade him [Gonzales] withdraw” from the runoff.
Now word yet on whether the ethics investigation will conclude before Gonzales leaves office in January.
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