Rep. Tony Gonzales’s (R-TX) decision to end his reelection bid has quelled an effort to rebuke him for having an affair with a staffer — sparing House Republicans a messy disciplinary fight as they struggle to manage their razor-thin majority.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is reportedly halting her effort to censure the Texas Republican over the affair, but told Politico Friday she would follow through with triggering the resolution if “any more funny business” comes out about Gonzales.
For Republicans, who can afford to lose only a handful of votes on the House floor, forcing a disciplinary vote against one of their own risked becoming an unwanted political distraction.
Gonzales announced he was ending his campaign one day after admitting to having an affair with then-staffer Regina Santos-Aviles during an interview with a conservative talk show. Santos-Aviles died last year after setting herself on fire.
“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment,” Gonzales said in the interview. “I take full responsibility for those actions.”
Gonzales’s reelection bid was roiled after text messages from the congressman appeared to show him pressuring Santos-Aviles into a sexual relationship. After failing to reach a 50% majority, the Texas Republican was headed to a runoff election against YouTuber Brandon Herrera in May.
Herrera applauded Gonzales for “making the appropriate” decision, saying he looks “forward to being the voice of TX23 that our district deserves. From the border, to oil theft, water rights, data centers, and many other issues. It’s an honor to be chosen and together we will make Texas proud.”
Pressure inside the House escalated this week, culminating in GOP leadership urging Gonzales Thursday to withdraw from the race.
The House Ethics Committee announced it was opening an investigation into Gonzales on March 4 regarding allegations that he “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
Investigations from the committee, however, often take months to years to complete, meaning the committee’s inquiry into the matter may not be completed by the time he leaves Congress in January 2027.
The committee only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress, making it unlikely that the committee would vote to release its findings once Gonzales’s term ends. However, such a move would not be unprecedented.
The committee released the findings of an investigation into a former member in December 2024 over its investigation into former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz had resigned from Congress after being tapped to be President Donald Trump’s attorney general, though he later withdrew his name from consideration over opposition in the Senate.
When pressed on criticism about the slow nature of the panel’s process, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said members do “investigations as quickly and efficiently and effectively as they can.”
“I mean that they have an element of due process,” he said. “I’m convinced that they’ll do this as rapidly as possible.”
The speaker went on to say that he expected the committee to name its subcommittee members for its investigation into Gonzales as “early as next week.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) moved to force the release of all records pertaining to congressional sexual harassment investigations this week in the House, but the effort was effectively killed after the chamber voted to refer the matter to the ethics committee.
Mace on Friday said in a press release, “A young woman is dead. This story begins and ends with her. Tony Gonzales is leaving. She doesn’t get to.”
TONY GONZALES DROPS 2026 BID AFTER ADMITTING AFFAIR WITH LATE STAFFER
She continued, “We forced a floor vote on our resolution to make Congress release every record of sexual harassment and misconduct it’s been sitting on. Both Republicans and Democrats voted it down. They chose the cover-up over the victims. Tony Gonzales still couldn’t survive the truth.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Gonzales, Mace, and Luna for comment. The ethics committee declined to comment on this story.
