In the early hours of May 9, 2024, U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales reportedly urged his district director, Regina Santos-Aviles, to send him a provocative photograph. When she expressed discomfort, stating the conversation was inappropriate, the married congressman from San Antonio insisted that he was merely a “visual person.”
Tragically, Santos-Aviles passed away in September 2025 after setting herself on fire. Her husband, Adrian Aviles, shared text messages with the San Antonio Express-News, alleging an affair between Gonzales and his wife. Aviles claimed that the revelation of this relationship and the subsequent professional alienation his wife experienced contributed to her deepening despair prior to her death.
Gonzales has not publicly addressed requests for comment. In November, he dismissed rumors of an affair with Santos-Aviles as “completely untruthful.” However, following the recent emergence of additional evidence, he has refrained from outright denials, instead accusing Aviles of attempting to blackmail him and blaming his opponent in the upcoming primary, Brandon Herrera, for politicizing the matter.
The congressman has also called for the release of the complete police report concerning Santos-Aviles’ death, which Uvalde officials provided to The Texas Tribune on Monday.
The police report details that Santos-Aviles informed responding officers she had set herself ablaze due to her husband’s romantic involvement with her best friend. A friend of the couple noted that they had been estranged for several months, following what was described as “Regina’s supposed affair,” which had strained their marriage.
Santos-Aviles succumbed to her injuries the following day at a San Antonio hospital. She and Aviles were parents to an 8-year-old son.
Gonzales, who is married and has six children, represents Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, the largest in the state, which spans the southwestern border and extends into San Antonio. He is currently facing a challenging re-election campaign, as Herrera, a gun rights advocate and YouTuber, aims to reclaim the seat after nearly defeating Gonzales in 2024.
In campaign advertisements and on social media, Herrera has criticized Gonzales for allegedly engaging in a “taxpayer-funded affair with a married staffer, which led to her death by self-immolation.” He has demanded Gonzales’ resignation and rejected the congressman’s claims that he is exploiting Santos-Aviles’ death for political gain.
“Calling for your resignation over something you objectively did (and then lied about on camera to cover up) isn’t a ‘political attack,’” Herrera tweeted. “It’s called accountability.”
Messages Reveal Inappropriate Conduct
The text messages obtained by the Express-News suggest that Gonzales pursued a sexual relationship with Santos-Aviles in violation of House rules enacted in 2018, which prohibit such relationships between lawmakers and their staff. The messages, exchanged just weeks before Gonzales’ runoff election against Herrera in May 2024, reveal the congressman repeatedly steering the conversation toward sexual themes, despite Santos-Aviles’ attempts to redirect him. After requesting an explicit photo, which she declined, he inquired about her “favorite position.” When she asked for his, he responded, “on top pinning your legs.”
“This is going too far boss,” she warned him. Despite her concerns, Gonzales continued to press for an in-person meeting. Two days later, they spent several hours alone at a cabin belonging to a former staffer’s family, according to a fellow staff member.
Shortly thereafter, Aviles discovered the affair using Santos-Aviles’ phone to send a group text to Gonzales and several members of his staff, identifying himself as her “soon to be ex-husband” and disclosing the affair.
Following the revelation, Aviles stated that Gonzales and his staff began to ostracize Santos-Aviles in an effort to compel her resignation. A former staffer corroborated that there was a noticeable change in how she was treated.
After the affair became public, Aviles and Santos-Aviles separated. According to interviews documented by law enforcement, her mental health deteriorated; she struggled with alcohol and made threats of self-harm, including a disturbing incident where she called Aviles while holding a gun to her head.
In mid-September, five months after the affair was revealed, Santos-Aviles confided to friends that she felt “pretty sad about the situation” and expressed a desire to reunite with her family, as reported by a friend named Victor Baron.
The night before her death, Santos-Aviles texted a friend, alleging that her husband was romantically involved with her best friend, expressing her distress. Shortly after, she doused herself in gasoline and sent a video of the act to her friend, instructing him to tell Aviles to “have fun raising our son.”
Moments later, Santos-Aviles called 911, and a police officer who listened to the emergency call reported hearing her plead for help, exclaiming, “Please send help, it burns so bad,” and “My God, I don’t want to die.” Two minutes later, her mother arrived at the scene.
She was rushed to Brooke Army Medical Center, where she died the following day.
In the wake of these events, speculation arose regarding the relationship between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales and whether it was linked to her tragic death. Just as early voting began for the March 3 primary, the Express-News published a text message from Santos-Aviles to a former staff member, in which she acknowledged having an affair with Gonzales.
In response to the text messages, several lawmakers condemned Gonzales. Representative Brandon Gill called for him to withdraw from the race, while Representative Chip Roy expressed renewed support for Herrera in the upcoming rematch. “Brandon should have been elected last cycle, and he should be elected this cycle,” Roy stated on social media. “We need conservative warriors in Congress representing the values of Texans. The stakes are too high.”
Representative Lauren Boebert called for Gonzales to resign, and GOP Representative Anna Paulina Luna urged Texas lawmakers to speak out against his actions. “The entire Texas delegation, as well as every single other Member of Congress, should be condemning a sitting Member of Congress asking for explicit photos of their staff,” Luna stated in a social media post. “As a woman, this is really disgusting to see. Not to mention, it brings dishonor on the House of Representatives.”
