{"id":19496,"date":"2026-03-02T10:02:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/tony-gonzales-created-a-mess-for-gop-leaders-theyre-counting-on-voters-to-do-the-cleanup\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:02:06","slug":"tony-gonzales-created-a-mess-for-gop-leaders-theyre-counting-on-voters-to-do-the-cleanup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/tony-gonzales-created-a-mess-for-gop-leaders-theyre-counting-on-voters-to-do-the-cleanup\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Gonzales created a mess for GOP leaders. They\u2019re counting on voters to do the cleanup."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Most of the political world will be watching Tuesday\u2019s Texas primaries to see who will match up in a blockbuster Senate race. But many House Republicans are instead keen to find out if Lone Star State voters are going to help them solve a big, messy problem.<\/p>\n

That would be Rep. Tony Gonzales, the third-term Republican lawmaker who stands accused of having an affair<\/a> with his staffer and pressing her for sexually explicit photos. She later died by suicide. Gonzales has denied the allegations, which have been bolstered by the release of text messages and interviews given<\/a> by the late aide\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n

Neither President Donald Trump nor Speaker Mike Johnson have pulled their endorsements of Gonzales, which were made months ago. But a growing number of House Republicans are hoping he simply loses his race and rides off into the Texas sunset, according to interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers and aides, many of whom were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive situation.<\/p>\n

What most don\u2019t want, however, is for Gonzales to resign from Congress in the 10 months before a successor would be sworn in, given that his departure would imperil the ultra-narrow House GOP majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould he lose the primary, which a lot of us expect him to do, he’ll probably just serve out his term,\u201d Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.) said. \u201cPeople still deserve to have a congressman doing the constituent work, et cetera.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haridopolos, like other House Republicans, said the allegations against Gonzales are \u201cvery serious, to say the least.\u201d He added, \u201cI think the voters in Texas are going to speak pretty loudly. And I would guess that his days are numbered in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Text messages that surfaced last week<\/a> appear to show Gonzales engaging in explicit exchanges with the staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, asking her for intimate photos and about sex acts. At one point in the exchanges, which Blue Light News has not independently reviewed, Santos-Aviles told Gonzales the requests were going \u201ctoo far.\u201d She died in September after setting herself on fire<\/a> in her backyard.<\/p>\n

Gonzales told reporters last week he would not resign from office<\/a>. \u201cWhat you\u2019ve seen is not all the facts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Gonzales didn\u2019t respond to questions, including whether the lawmaker would provide the additional facts he referenced.<\/p>\n

But what has emerged so far has been enough to cause enormous headaches for Johnson, who has had to contend with numerous crises relating to his barely-there majority.<\/p>\n

Cobbling together enough Republicans to advance legislation is a day-to-day struggle for party leaders, who can afford no more than one defection on party-line votes where all members are present. Absences and internal dissent from lawmakers mean controversial votes are a constant tightrope for the GOP.<\/p>\n

Asked Tuesday if Gonzales should be running for reelection, Johnson declined<\/a> to say. \u201cI haven\u2019t met with him yet,\u201d he replied. A day later, Johnson told reporters he still hadn\u2019t met with Gonzales but suggested his fate was in the hands<\/a> of Texas primary voters.<\/p>\n

Trump notably left Gonzales out of a social media blitz Friday morning, where he cheered his endorsements in nearly every other race in the state. When Gonzales attended a Trump event in Texas later that day, the president did recognize his presence \u2014 but the White House \u201cdidn’t invite him specifically,\u201d according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Rather, the \u201cevent was just open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzales\u2019 Republican challenger, Brandon Herrera, said in an interview he hasn\u2019t talked to any GOP leaders or the NRCC about the race. He has, though, spoken to some hard-line House Republicans who have called for Gonzales to step down<\/a> or end his reelection bid, including Reps. Chip Roy and Brandon Gill of Texas, as well as Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no accountability there, and I think he\u2019s about to find accountability on March 3,\u201d Herrera said of Gonzales.<\/p>\n

Like other House Republicans, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said the allegations against Gonzales are \u201cdisturbing\u201d and that \u201cTony has to answer a lot of questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said it was up to Texas voters \u201cto render a judgment\u201d on the allegations against him.<\/p>\n

Even if Gonzales loses his primary Tuesday \u2014 a real possibility not only due to the allegations, but also his narrow 354-vote victory over Herrera in 2024 \u2014 he would continue serving out his term as House Ethics investigators probe his conduct.<\/p>\n

Whether the public gets a look at the results of the internal investigation remains to be seen. The Office of Congressional Conduct is expected to transmit its report to the Ethics Committee right after the Tuesday primary, but the panel could take weeks \u2014 more likely months \u2014 before producing a public report.<\/p>\n

If Gonzales leaves office first, the report would stay secret under House rules.<\/p>\n

Most House Republicans are avoiding weighing in on the allegations facing Gonzales, and on Johnson\u2019s handling of the matter altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not something I’ve dedicated much thought to,\u201d Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) said.<\/p>\n

But even if Gonzales loses Tuesday, his presence in the House GOP could be a source of heartburn for party leaders.<\/p>\n

A small group of House Republicans \u2014 most of them women<\/a> \u2014 already want to force action against Gonzales. Luna and others are mulling a censure resolution against the Texas Republican. Luna said she might also try to strip Gonzales of his coveted assignment to the House Appropriations Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo much of this has been brushed under the rug lately,\u201d Luna said. \u201cThe American people deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luna said she hasn\u2019t talked to Johnson about the moves, which could come up for floor consideration without leadership consent under House rules: \u201cI don\u2019t need to ask for his permission on anything. That is an archaic perspective that is not in line with the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Separately, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who has also called for Gonzales to resign, is vowing to force a vote on the House floor this week responding to allegations against the Texas Republican and other men in Congress<\/a> who have faced misconduct allegations. Her measure would require the Ethics Committee to publicly release information on sexual harassment violations and alleged violations by members on a rolling basis.<\/p>\n

While senior Republicans privately believe the effort will fail, Mace and some GOP allies are vowing to keep the spotlight on their colleagues\u2019 alleged bad behavior \u2014 pushing for hearings and investigations.<\/p>\n

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who chairs a House Oversight subcommittee, indicated Thursday he was prepared to pick up the baton and pursue the matter through his panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI plan to move on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jasper Goodman contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of the political world will be watching Tuesday\u2019s Texas primaries to see who will match up in a blockbuster Senate race. But many House Republicans are instead keen to find out if Lone Star State voters are going to help them solve a big, messy problem. That would be Rep. Tony Gonzales, the third-term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}