WASHINGTON — Extra Republicans are calling for Rep. Tony Gonzales to resign or drop his re-election bid — together with some who took marketing campaign donations from one in every of Gonzales’ affiliated PACs — after texts revealed the Texas Republican had an “affair” with a staffer who later fatally lit herself on hearth.
Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) had been among the many first to name on Gonzales to step down following the discharge of “sexual” messages between their Home colleague and his late regional director Regina Santos-Aviles.
“He’s a disgusting pig. The speaker ought to do one thing about it,” Boebert advised CNN Wednesday.
“It’s clearly going to be one thing that may doubtless affect our margins, however I don’t make an excuse for what he did and I’d encourage him to think about resigning,” added Luna.
“Given what I’ve seen up to now, he ought to resign,” Mace agreed.
Mace and Luna have acquired $20,000 and $1,000, respectively, from Honor Braveness Dedication PAC, which was first designated as Gonzales’ management committee in 2021, in accordance with federal marketing campaign finance filings.
These donations had been made between September 2021 and June 2023, nicely earlier than the Home Republican’s purported tryst with Santos-Aviles was publicly reported.
In whole, the Gonzales-affiliated PAC has forked over greater than $450,000 to different Home GOP campaigns since 2020, Federal Election Fee information present.
A number of of these contributions have gone towards members defending susceptible seats in November.
Final yr, Honor Braveness Dedication gave $10,000 to Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), $5,000 to Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) and $2,000 to Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) — all three of whom are in districts labeled toss-ups by the nonpartisan Cook dinner Political Report.
These donations had been additionally made earlier than information of Gonzales’ alleged infidelity broke.
“Now we have a younger girl who died tragically,” De La Cruz advised the Texas Tribune Tuesday. “Let’s remember that she’s a mom of a younger baby, she’s a spouse, a daughter, [iwth] mother and father who love her a lot and I’m certain miss her. That case has gone to the Ethics Committee, and I imagine that’s the place it must be processed.”
Moreover, fellow Texas GOP Rep. Michael McCaul’s marketing campaign took $5,000 from the identical management PAC in November 2025 — two months after Santos-Aviles died by self-immolation and one month after the Every day Mail reported on rumors of the affair.
“All people’s entitled to due course of. There’s an ethics investigation; there’s a lawsuit,” McCaul, who introduced in September that he wouldn’t search re-election, advised reporters Wednesday. “The reality’s going to return out a method or one other. I hope it’s not true, nevertheless it’s a really unhappy factor.”
Reps. Keith Self (R-Texas) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) joined the refrain demanding Gonzales both resign or drop out of his main race on Wednesday.
Gonzales, who’s married with six kids, has stated he is not going to step down and accused Santos-Aviles’ widower Adrian Aviles of making an attempt to “blackmail” him over the textual content messages.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has known as the allegations “very critical” however stated ethics investigations ought to play out first.
The Workplace of Congressional Conduct started probing Gonzales this previous November and will refer its findings to the Home Ethics Committee, which might elect to impose punishments on Gonzales if he’s discovered to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a staffer.
Mace advised NBC Information Wednesday that she plans to drive a vote on a brand new decision ordering the discharge of all sexual misconduct and harassment experiences pertaining to members of Congress.
Gonzales engaged in an extramarital relationship with Santos-Aviles in Could 2024, in accordance with her husband, a former colleague and textual content messages obtained by The Publish.
“[S]finish me an attractive pic,” he requested her in a single message shortly after midnight on Could 9, 2024.
“That is too far, Tony,” she replied after he pressed her on her most well-liked sexual positions. “[G]o to sleep are you certain your [sic] sober.”
One other textual content change with a now-former colleague in April 2025 confirmed Santos-Aviles admitting to the “affair.”
“Throughout my six years in Congress not a single formal criticism has been levied in opposition to my workplace. Now days away from an election, coordinated political assaults reign [sic] in. IT WONT WORK,” the congressman posted Sunday on X.
Santos-Aviles, 35, doused herself in gasoline and ignited it on Sept. 13, 2025, passing away the following day of her accidents.
Police experiences revealed that she had been “taking antidepressants” and imbibing alcohol within the weeks main as much as the tragedy, however her husband maintained in an interview with The Publish earlier this month that Santos-Aviles “was a very secure … mentally sane particular person earlier than all of this.”
“I knew Regina earlier than and after this affair,” the ex-colleague additionally stated. “Earlier than she was regular, calm, and joyful. After she was the other of all these issues.”
Reps for Luna, Mace, McCaul, Miller Meeks, De La Cruz and Nunn didn’t reply to requests for remark.
