On Monday, Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas received some welcome news: Ahead of his March 3 primary, the incumbent congressman earned an official endorsement from Donald Trump, who described him as “terrific.”
One day later, the news for the GOP lawmaker was far less good.
The San Antonio Express-News, Gonzales’ hometown newspaper, reported on a text message from Regina Santos-Aviles, a former aide to the congressman, who said she had an extramarital affair with Gonzales. Santos-Aviles died by suicide last year.
While these allegations against the Texas Republican have come up before, and Gonzales, a married father of six, has long denied any wrongdoing, the Express-News reported that a former aide to the congressman came forward to say that Santos-Aviles told him about the relationship. That same aide (who asked not to be named by the Express-News, citing a fear of retaliation) provided a text message from Santos-Aviles in which she said she “had an affair with our boss.” (He shared the same evidence with The New York Times.)
The unproven accusations are notable for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the Express-News’ report was published just two weeks before the primary in Texas. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal reported that Gonzales’ principal intraparty rival believes it’s time for the incumbent to quit.
The top Republican challenger to Rep. Tony Gonzales called for him to drop out of the primary race on Wednesday following allegations that he engaged in an extramarital affair with an aide.
As early voting kicked off in Texas, Brandon Herrera said Gonzalez should discontinue his re-election campaign because of an alleged relationship with the aide, Regina Santos-Aviles … Separately on Wednesday, the lawyer for Santos-Aviles’s husband said Gonzales publicly needs to take accountability for what he described as an inappropriate sexual affair between a boss and his subordinate.
In his latest statement, the congressman, who barely prevailed in a primary race two years ago, did not directly address the underlying allegation. Rather, Gonzales praised Santos-Aviles’ work and accused his primary challenger of using a “disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points” as early voting began.
Time will tell whether and to what extent local voters are moved by the controversy, but the editorial board of the Express-News, which endorsed Gonzales’ re-election bid, changed its mind in a piece published this week. Watch this space.
