Congressman Tony Gonzales QUITS after Daily Mail exposed affair with staffer who set herself on fire

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Congressman Tony Gonzales resigned from office on Monday after the Daily Mail exposed a sex scandal involving his staffer, who eventually set herself on fire.

Gonzales, a Republican who previously dropped his bid for reelection, wrote on X: 'There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all.' 

He then announced his intention to resign.

'When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office,' he said. 'It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas.'

His resignation follows that of Democrat Eric Swalwell, as both faced ethics investigations. 

In late 2025, the Office of Congressional Conduct opened an investigation into the alleged relationship between the Texas Republican, 45, and his former regional district director, Regina Aviles, 35, according to the attorney for Aviles's husband.

The announcement is a month after Gonzales announced he would end his reelection bid after he finished in second place in the jungle primary.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and others had called for Gonzales to drop out. 

He had initially promised that for the rest of his term, he would show 'the same commitment I've always had to my district.' 

In the weeks following his admission, the Daily Mail reported that Gonzales had been a ghost in his district.  

However, Politico reported Monday that Gonzales was set to face an expulsion vote before the House alongside Swalwell, who quit minutes earlier. 

In addition, it was revealed last week that a second staffer accused Gonzales of sending lewd messages, which were obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.

When reached by the Daily Mail, the unnamed staffer asked people to think about those most affected by Gonzales's actions.  

'Just remember to pray for the innocents in all of this! Tony's wife and children did not deserve this. Regina Santos Aviles did not deserve this. Her son and husband did not deserve this. But she's getting justice as I promised her!' she said.

'This is a sad day in America when we have to run someone out of office for being a sexual predator!'

When asked by the Daily Mail if she thought Gonzales would have retired without her coming forward, she said 'maybe' but added that she was 'exhausted' from thinking about him.

She was also dismayed that Gonzales was likely to receive a full Congressional pension since he wasn't expelled. 

'Even if he quit today, he'd get his pension. But there should be a rule in Congress that if you're let go for anything nefarious, that you give up your pension.'

The woman, who is also not named in the original report, said she came forward after Aviles's death, telling the San Antonio Express-News: 'This behavior needs to stop.' 

For months, speculation has swirled over whether or not the Texan would fess up to the allegation, which was first reported in October 2025. 

The bombshell correspondence showed the married congressman petitioning his staffer for inappropriate pictures and asking her about sexual preferences. 

The Daily Mail was the first to report the affair between Aviles and married father-of-six Gonzales, in October. 

Aviles, who began working for Gonzales in November 2021, died in September 2025 after she doused herself with gasoline in her backyard and caught fire. 

The husband of the elected official's alleged mistress confirmed the affair to the Daily Mail, granting his first-ever interview.

House Rule 23 in the Code of Official Conduct states that members of Congress may not have sexual relations with a person who works under their supervision.

Additionally, the Daily Mail obtained a text message from Aviles admitting she had slept with her boss.

Federal investigators reached out to her husband, Adrian Aviles, in November, after the Daily Mail reported on the affair, according to San Antonio attorney Bobby Barrera.

The OCC would not comment when asked about the investigation by the Daily Mail, which is in line with the committee's reputation for being tight-lipped.

The romantic relationship between Gonzales and Aviles allegedly began in 2022, a former staffer for Gonzales told the Daily Mail anonymously for fear of retaliation.

Adrian believes Gonzales made the first move and was rebuffed by his wife initially due to text messages on her phone.

'He had made a pass at her and she'd mentioned, she'd said something about, you know, him being her boss and that that was inappropriate,' Adrian told the Daily Mail on Wednesday.

Adrian has said he will release text messages between his wife and Gonzales at some point, but has yet to do so, telling the Daily Mail he's weighing how to get the truth out while protecting his and Aviles's eight-year-old son. 

In May, the Congressman and Aviles allegedly hooked up twice at a Hill Country cabin in Concan, Texas.

In June, Adrian says he discovered his wife's betrayal and texted Gonzales and several members of his staff, letting them know he knew. 

After the affair became public knowledge in Gonzales's office, the Congressman allegedly stopped talking to Aviles, but did not fire her. 

Instead, she was told to take a paid month off work and was slowly black-listed when she returned, losing more and more responsibility, her husband said.

Adrian revealed she was 'spiraling' they were unable to reconcile after months of trying and he moved out with their son.

On September 13, Aviles doused herself with gasoline while on the phone with someone, sources told the Daily Mail. She caught fire and was airlifted to San Antonio from her home in Uvalde. 

She died the next day at the hospital, with her autopsy revealing she was drunk the night of the incident. 

One day after his March primary race, and as calls for his resignation from Republicans and Democrats reached a boiling point, Gonzales admitted to the affair. 

He called it a 'mistake' and a 'lapse in judgment.' He added: 'I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then, I have reconciled with my wife, Angel. I've asked God to forgive me, which he has. And my faith is as strong as ever.'

His admission came just after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into the Texan's conduct following a report from the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) indicating 'substantial reason to believe' Gonzales was embroiled in the affair. 

It is against congressional rules for a member to have an affair with a subordinate. 

When pressed about Gonzales's admission, Johnson did not let much slip but admitted it was 'not against the law.'

'I'm not going to get into private conversations,' Johnson told Punchbowl News. 'But I've told him to be forthright. Apparently now he's doing that.' 

When asked whether Gonzales should remain in Congress, given the scandal, the top Republican - and devout Christian - played coy. 

'Marital infidelity is not against the law,' Johnson said. 

Reminded that it's against House rules for a member to have an affair with a staffer, Johnson admitted it was. 

'Well, of course, yeah. That's being addressed. There is an investigation at Ethics. The OCC is on it. All those steps have already been taken and apparently were underway.'

'I've always been consistent, whether you're talking about Republicans or Democrats, we let the processes play out,' the speaker added. 

Both Democrats and Republicans called on Gonzales to resign, or at a minimum, drop his bid for reelection.

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina accused Gonzales of 'harassing his own staffer in the middle of the night' and has called on him to 'resign immediately and be held fully accountable for what he's done.'

Mace filed a resolution to force the House Ethics Committee to release its reports on sexual misconduct by members. 

However, the House decisively voted to send the resolution to committee - a move that effectively killed Mace's effort to expose the reports. 

'I think it's really disgusting how this institution protects itself,' Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida fumed. 

'We just had a Member of Congress literally sexually harass a woman that then lit herself on fire and you all protected him!' she decried at a committee hearing. 'You guys all protected him! My own side, your side.'

This week, Luna filed a censure resolution - one of the most severe punishments in Congress outside of expulsion - against Gonzales for his misconduct. 

Chairman of the Congressional Democratic Women's Caucus, Teresa Leger Fernandez, in addition to scores of other liberal lawmakers, also called for Gonzales's resignation.

'Representative Tony Gonzales's actions would result in a termination and investigation in any other workplace.'

'Representative Gonzales should resign,' she added, noting his 'abuse of power.' 

Gonzales's position seemed even more tenuous after he finished second in the Republican Primary to return to his seat to Brandon Herrera, a conservative YouTuber known as 'The AK Guy.' 

His competitor finished first with 43.3 percent of the vote to Gonzales's 41.7 percent. 

The two of them would have faced a run-off election in late May to determine the Republican nominee in the November midterms.