WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 14: Representative Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) speaks alongside Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) during a press conference on border security outside the U.S. Capitol on November 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-Texas, said Thursday he will not seek re-election after House Republican leaders called for him to withdraw his candidacy over an alleged affair with a former staffer who later committed suicide.
“After deep reflection and with the support of my beloved family, I have decided not to seek re-election, serving the remainder of my term with the same commitment to my district,” Gonzalez said in a post on X.
The Congressional Ethics Committee announced Wednesday that it would investigate the allegations against Gonzalez.
“Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzalez to withdraw from his re-election bid,” House Speaker Mike Johnson and three members of his leadership team said in a joint statement.
Gonzalez has agreed to fully cooperate with the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into the “very serious allegations,” according to a joint statement from Majority Leader Steve Scalise, No. 3 Republican Tom Emmer and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain.
The Texas Republican, who acknowledged his “mistakes” and “misjudgment,” also faces possible legislative action from fellow Republican Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who filed two measures Wednesday to censure him and strip him of his committee assignments.
The leadership statement came two days after the 45-year-old three-term congressman was forced into a primary runoff in May against Republican challenger Brandon Herrera, a gun rights advocate backed by the hard-line House Freedom Caucus.
The Ethics Committee announced Wednesday that it would investigate Gonzalez to determine “whether he engaged in sexual misconduct against individual staff members in his Congressional offices or unfairly discriminated against them by providing them with special accommodations or privileges.”
Several other House Republicans had called for Gonzalez to resign or withdraw from the campaign after the San Antonio Express-News published explicit text messages from Gonzalez to Regina Santos Aviles, a former staffer who died by suicide last September.
After Tuesday’s primary election, Mr. Gonzalez trailed Mr. Herrera by less than 1,000 votes, with neither candidate receiving the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. He defeated Herrera, a YouTube influencer known as “AK Guy,” in the 2024 primary by just a few hundred votes.
