GOP Texas congressman Gonzales will face a primary runoff after allegations of an affair

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

GOP Texas congressman Gonzales will face a primary runoff after allegations of an affair

As he faces calls to resign after accusations of having an affair with an aide, Republican U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas was forced into a primary runoff with his GOP opponent in Tuesday's vote.

Gonzales, who has stated that he will not resign, entered the country's first major primary of 2026 under fire from other House Republicans following revelations that were made public last month and purportedly showed him and the former worker exchanging sexual text messages.

The GOP challenger Brandon Herrera, a gun maker and YouTube gun rights influencer who lost to Gonzales by less than 400 votes in the 2024 primary, will now face the three-term congressman again. The runoff election is scheduled on May 26 after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the four-way primary.

Gonzales was one of the Texas Republicans that attended President Donald Trump's visit along the Texas coast last week. Trump had endorsed Gonzales in December.

Gonzales stated last week in Washington that "there will be opportunities for all of the details and facts to come out." "Not all of the facts are what you've seen."

After serving in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, including time in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gonzales, a father of six, was elected to his first seat in 2020.

In the expansive district that runs from western San Antonio to El Paso along the U.S. border with Mexico, his victory in 2020 defied Democratic expectations. Trump's unexpectedly impressive performance in the predominantly Hispanic Rio Grande Valley contributed to his victory.

In one recent social media post, Gonzales claimed that he was being blackmailed. In another, he said that he was the victim of "coordinated political attacks."

The former employee, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, allegedly had an affair with Gonzales, according to text texts that the San Antonio Express-News uncovered.

Copies of the messages have not been independently acquired by the Associated Press. Santos-Aviles' husband, Adrian Aviles, learned of the romance prior to his wife's passing, according to an attorney for the couple.

Santos-Aviles, 35, burned herself alive in her backyard in Uvalde and passed away in September 2025. Her death was eventually determined to be a suicide by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office.