Defiant Rep. Tony Gonzales vows to stay in Texas runoff in face of House Ethics investigation

By Aileen Graef, Manu Raju, Alison Main, CNN

(CNN) — Embattled GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales said he will stay in the race to hold onto his seat and campaign in the two-person runoff in Texas — despite facing a House ethics probe amid allegations he had an affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

Asked by CNN whether he had the affair, Gonzales refused to say. Instead, he claimed he would address the allegations directly on Wednesday — despite being asked more than a week ago by Speaker Mike Johnson to do so.

“I will address the allegations today,” the Texas Republican said when asked whether he had an affair in 2024 with his then-staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, who later died of self-immolation.

Asked why he hadn’t yet publicly addressed the allegations, Gonzales said: “I had an election yesterday, and we did well.”

The House Ethics Committee announced earlier in the day that it was forming an investigative panel to probe allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate favoritism against Gonzales.

The committee will determine whether Gonzales “violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct” in regard to allegations that he may have “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” or “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”

The committee’s announcement comes as the Texas Republican has been embroiled in the difficult primary fight that could end his tenure in Congress – a campaign made more contentious by the allegations against him. Gonzales will now face conservative activist Brandon Herrera in a runoff on May 26. The last day to withdraw from the runoff and thereby cancel it is March 18.

Gonzales insisted he would stay in the race, despite the scandal and even after Herrera took the largest share of the vote on Tuesday.

“This is my third runoff in four cycles,” he said, adding, “We’ll win this runoff as well.”

Gonzales has repeatedly answered mounting calls from some of his GOP colleagues to step down with defiance.

“There will be an opportunity for all the details and facts to come out,” he told CNN last week. “What you’ve seen is not all the facts. And there will be ample time for all of that to come out.”

Still, top House Republicans have closely tracked the allegations against Gonzales in recent weeks. Complicating the matter for GOP leadership is that House Speaker Mike Johnson is dealing with one of the House’s smallest margins in history, leaving very little wiggle room for the party on the floor.

Johnson said Wednesday he would let investigations play out when asked if he would endorse the embattled congressman in the primary runoff.

“You know I’ve always been consistent: We allow due process and investigations to play out,” Johnson said when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju whether he would do so.

Johnson reiterated that he has encouraged Gonzales to address the allegations head-on.

“I’ve encouraged him to address it publicly, the voters have spoken,” he said.

This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.

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