SAN ANTONIO, Tx., March 5, 2026: In an update to a story, we first brought to you back on September 18, 2025, we have now learned that Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) has admitted to having an affair with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles.
Santos-Aviles died on September 14, 2025, by suicide after dousing herself with gasoline and lighting herself on fire.
Rumors circulated after her death that she was having an affair with Gonzales. However, Gonzales denied the affair until yesterday.
Gonzales went on the Joe Pags radio talk show yesterday where he admitted to the affair. The show’s host is Joseph Pagliarulo. When asked by Pagliarulo if he had the affair, Gonzales replied that “very direct, I made a mistake.” He added that “I had a lapse of judgement, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions.”
He added that since then he had reconciled with his wife and that he asked, “God to forgive” him, adding, “which he has.”
Gonzales said that “there is a lot more to the story, that isn’t out there.” Gonzales added that contrary to the narrative, Santos-Aviles “was thriving at work,” and that her suicide was “a shock” to everyone.
Gonzales argued that the story behind the affair and suicide is “about money.” He told Pagliarulo that “within hours” of her death, “her estranged husband reached out to our office to inquire” about Santos-Aviles’ “death benefits, and how he could access them.” He says that the husband’s call is “the beginning” of what he described as “about money.” Gonzales adds that months later the husband’s “criminal attorney reached out” and “essentially asked me for money, or else.” Gonzales argued that it was strange to him that a criminal attorney would reach out to him, instead of a civil attorney.
Gonzales went on to say that the attorney asked for $300,000, adding that he does not have the money, and that if he had the money, he would not give it “to someone that is trying to shake me down.” He added that “this has always been about money.”
He went on to argue that the scandal surrounding him was the result of a “coordinated effort” that led to the release of text messages before the start of early voting, suggesting that the release of the text messages was about pressuring him to pay money to the estranged husband.
He added that he hadn’t spoken to Santos-Aviles since June of 2024, over a year before she committed suicide. Gonzales says he “had nothing to do with her” death.
Gonzales admitted to reaching out to Pagliarulo to come on his show because he says the news media was complicit in what he argues is a coordinated effort to force him out of office. Gonzales says that he went on Pagliarulo’s show because it offered an “alternative way of getting real information out.”
He went on to explain that part of the coordinated effort against him was to get him “to not vote on the DHS package” scheduled for a vote later today. The federal government has been in a partial shutdown since February 1 with funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lapsed as Democrats have three demands to refund the department.
The Democrats are demanding a reform package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while conducting immigration enforcement actions across America. The three demands are the removal of face masks, the use of judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants and a code of conduct of the agents.
Gonzales says that the Uvalde police report states that the “female subject with burn injuries then stated her husband is gay and having an affair with her best friend.”
He suggests that the sentence in the report may have had something to do with her suicide. Gonzales says that the statements that Santos-Aviles made to the first respondents show that he had “nothing to do” with her suicide.
He told Pagliarulo that the pay raise she received in 2024 was part of a “staff wide” pay raise for his staff.
Pagliarulo asked Gonzales, “can you survive this,” in reference to the runoff he faces against Brandon Herrera. Herrera outperformed Gonzales by 878 votes in a four-way race in Tuesday’s primary. Herrera lost by 400 votes in the 2024 runoff against the incumbent. Gonzales responded that he can still be effective in office, even though some Republican members have said he should resign. Gonzales told Pagliarulo that those who “are asking me not to do my job [resign], are the ones that want to see the Republicans fail here in Congress.”
Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have both endorsed Gonzales. The House Ethics Committee voted yesterday to investigate Gonzales for “sexual misconduct” involving his subordinate.
Gonzales argues that “I am the only one that can hold” the district, suggesting that if he were to resign, the Republicans would lose the “slim majority” they hold at the House. He went on to argue that if he is forced out of the House, the Democrats could take control of it in November, which will lead to efforts to impeach Donald Trump “at every single moment.”
He reiterated to Pagliarulo that the scandal is “about money” and “political power,” adding that the scandal “was a very coordinated attack.” Gonzales closed by stating that he will win the runoff scheduled for May 26.
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