Pressure Mounts on Rep. Tony Gonzales to Resign Amid Allegations

Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing mounting pressure from within his own party to resign amid new details of an alleged affair between the Texas Republican and a staffer who later died by suicide. At least four House Republicans have called on Gonzales to either resign or end his bid for reelection after explicit text messages surfaced from Gonzales to his then-employee Regina Santos-Aviles, who later died after setting herself on fire. "America deserves better. Tony should drop out of the race," posted Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill on Monday. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., agreed, writing: "Tony, you should drop out of the race." GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina have called for Gonzales to resign. Gonzales' office did not respond to a request for comment, but the congressman has previously denied the allegations. NPR has not independently reviewed the text messages.

The firestorm comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is clinging to a razor-thin majority in the lower chamber. Republicans currently have a 4-seat majority and there is speculation additional members with retirement plans could leave ahead of this year's midterm elections.

Gonzales is already facing a probe into the alleged affair by the Office of Congressional Conduct, an independent House office, according to a source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The OCC is expected to turn over their findings to the House Ethics Committee in the coming weeks.

Asked whether Gonzales should resign, Johnson called the allegations "very serious" and said the process has to play out. "As in every case like this, you have to allow the investigations to play out and all the facts to come out," Johnson told reporters on Monday. "If the accusation of something is going to be the litmus test for someone being able to continue to serve in the House, you'll have a lot of people who would have to resign or be removed or expelled from Congress."

Gonzales is in his third term representing Texas' 23rd congressional district, a seat in Southwest Texas. He faces a tough primary contest on March 3, and could head into a repeat of a Republican runoff in 2024 that saw him edge out conservative YouTuber Brandon Herrera by only about 350 votes. Herrera, a vocal gun rights supporter known as "the AK guy," drew the backing of several Republicans, including members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

In the midst of the fallout on Monday, the political arm of the House Freedom Caucus weighed in to endorse Herrera. The group, whose members have previously attacked Gonzales as not conservative enough, made no mention of the allegations in its endorsement. "Brandon is a bold, unapologetic defender of the Second Amendment and a steadfast champion of the constitutional rights that safeguard our freedoms," the Freedom Caucus Fund said in a statement on X.