Gonzales' withdrawal effectively hands the GOP nomination for #TX23 to Brandon Herrera, a 30-year-old Youtuber and gun manufacturer who describes himself as a Second Amendment absolutist.
The sprawling district covers 800 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and the town of Uvalde.
BREAKING: Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, is abandoning his bid for reelection to Congress under pressure from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson & and amid an ethics investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Months after he said rumors that he was sleeping with his staffer were false, and 2 weeks after we first reported evidence that it happened, Rep. Tony Gonzales admits to the affair:
“I made a mistake” www.expressnews.com/news/article...
Had the privilege of going over the results of last night’s primary elections & what they mean for November with @texasstandard.bsky.social. Take a listen: www.texasstandard.org/stories/toda...
BREAKING: House Ethics panel to investigate Rep. Tony Gonzales over allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a staffer and unfairly "dispens(ed) special favors or privileges."
Comes as Gonzales heads into a tight GOP runoff. @expressnews.com
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Just now: Texas Democratic Party says “hundreds of Dallas County voters are being turned away from the polls” because of new Republican-led requirements that they vote only in their precinct, rather than anywhere in the county #txlege
Inbox: Rep. @jasmineforus.bsky.social, who’s running in the competitive #TXSEN Dem primary, says she’s considering requesting an extension of poll times today in Williamson & Dallas Counties due to confusion over precinct voting requirements.
Urges voters: “Do not give up & do not give in”
Had a great time talking about Texas primaries and the Rep. Tony Gonzales scandal with @slate.com’s What Next podcast this morning. Take a listen: “Can Democrats mess with Texas?” open.spotify.com/episode/6tLw...
For a table with quarterly pay for 5 district directors and more on what the data says: www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
The Uvalde Leader-News first reported on the raises.
Gonzales' office: "At no point has our office ever considered factors beyond job-based performance or length of service in salary distributions, and implying otherwise is creating a false and misleading narrative."
Santos-Aviles also got a bonus in June 2025, as did her colleagues. While her pay bump was greater than others' was, she also had the longest tenure of the bunch.
Here's my chart comparing salaries of all of the regional district directors in Gonzales' office:
Santos-Aviles ended the year with $4,000 more in earnings than her colleagues in similar roles.
But she got her raise in Feb 2024, 3 months before she and Gonzales began a romantic relationship. And the office gave raises to staff across the board. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
NEW from me: Did @RepTonyGonzales give preferential pay to staffer Regina Santos-Aviles the year they engaged in an affair?
@ExpressNews crunched the numbers⬇️
Tune in to @texasstandard.bsky.social at 10:50 a.m. (in 2 minutes) to hear my @expressnews.com colleague Nancy & me break down everything that has happened re: Rep. Tony Gonzales over the past week!
New: A growing number of Republicans are publicly condemning Rep. @TonyGonzales4TX for soliciting explicit pictures from a staffer, escalating pressure before his March 3 primary & complicating his path to political survival.
On the political fallout:
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
NEW from my colleague Nancy Preyor-Johnson: Moments after setting herself on fire, Regina Santos-Aviles told police she did it because she had discovered her estranged husband was romantically involved with her best friend, per police report.
via @expressnews.com www.expressnews.com/news/article...
NEW: Texts from the husband of Regina Santos-Aviles show Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, repeatedly pressed his aide for a "sexy pic" and in-person meetups.
Twice, the staffer told Gonzales he was going “too far.”
Via @expressnews.com: www.expressnews.com/news/article...
NEW: Months before immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis and triggered nationwide protests, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a San Antonio man, according to newly released records. www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
NEW: U.S. Rep. @JoaquinCastrotx, D-San Antonio, is calling for a DOJ investigation into an ICE agent's killing of a U.S. citizen from San Antonio in March 2025.
This is the 3rd known ICE shooting of a citizen since Trump took office.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Inbox: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign arm declares that “Democrats are more energized, organized, and funded than I’ve ever seen” in fundraising email
Email also features Donald Trump Jr. saying “Democrats are flooding Texas with money” #txlege
We'll be following this story and the election closely
@expressnews.com.
Subscribe to Hearst newspapers to support our investigative, accountability-driven journalism and keep up with a pivotal midterm election.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Gonzales has given a blanket denial of "all rumors" surrounding Santos-Aviles and her death by suicide, but has repeatedly refused to answer questions or address their relationship directly.
He's also discounted calls for his resignation as he heads into a tight GOP primary.
Aviles also said his wife, the Uvalde regional district director for Rep. Gonzales, was effectively "black-sheeped" in the office & that they sought to make her quit.
His statements confirm what a former staffer told us in yesterday's @expressnews.com story: www.expressnews.com/news/article...
Aviles said he wants "accountability," not an apology, & criticized Gonzales for pushing "family values and Christian morals...denying the fact that he’s ruined somebody’s life.”
The couple was separated when Santos-Aviles died by self-immolation last year. www.expressnews.com/news/article...
BREAKING: Adrian Aviles broke months of silence on his wife's affair w/ Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, today after we reported on a text message acknowledging the affair.
In an exclusive interview w/ @expressnews.com, he said his wife showed him graphic texts w/ the rep 🧵
NEW: GOP U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales resists calls to resign after
@expressnews.com reported staffer Regina Santos-Aviles acknowledged they had an affair in 2024
His opponent has cited House ethics rules barring lawmakers from having sexual relationships with staffers. expressnews.com/politics/art...
My colleague attended Santos-Aviles’ funeral, which was led by her husband. Her heartbreaking reporting from it concludes the story:
Trump has endorsed Gonzales for his Congressional seat, TX-23.
He's facing 3 challengers in the GOP primary on March 4. Four Democrats are competing for the nomination to challenge him in November’s general election.
The texts are the first statement from Santos-Aviles that has been reported, months after she died.
A fellow former staffer in Uvalde and Regina's husband's lawyer both told us that the San Antonio Republican and Regina were romantically involved.
Gonzales, who is married with six children, has dodged questions about his relationship with Santos-Aviles.
Asked about “the circumstances that may have led to her death” at TribFest last fall, however, he said that the “rumors are completely untruthful.”
