The House Ethics Committee announced Wednesday it will investigate Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzales following accusations of sexual misconduct and preferential treatment involving a former congressional staffer who later took her own life.
The 45-year-old three-term lawmaker maintains his innocence amid the allegations, which have sparked calls for his resignation from multiple House Republicans. Fellow GOP Representative Anna Paulina Luna filed two separate measures Wednesday seeking to censure Gonzales and remove him from his committee positions.
According to the ethics panel’s statement, the investigation will examine whether Gonzales “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employee in his congressional office and/or discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
The controversy centers around explicit text messages between Gonzales and former staff member Regina Santos-Aviles, which were published by the San Antonio Express-News. Santos-Aviles died by suicide in September.
These developments follow Tuesday’s Texas primary results, where Gonzales narrowly avoided defeat against challenger Brandon Herrera, a conservative YouTube personality and gun rights activist known as “the AK Guy.” With neither candidate securing 50% of the vote, the race heads to a May runoff. Gonzales led by fewer than 1,000 votes and previously defeated Herrera by just hundreds of votes in the 2024 primary.
Herrera has received backing from the House Freedom Caucus, the chamber’s most conservative faction.
In a February 22 social media post on X, Gonzales defended himself against what he called coordinated political attacks, stating: “During my six years in Congress not a single formal complaint has been levied against my office. Now days away from an election, coordinated political attacks reign in. IT WONT WORK. Half way through early voting and the intensity resides w/ TG voters. I’d rather be us than them.”
Gonzales’ office has not provided a response to requests for comment regarding the ethics investigation.
