WASHINGTON — Disgraced Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales — who dropped his reelection bid after revelations of his sexual advances on a subordinate who later fatally set herself on fire — prodded another staffer for sex years earlier, damning new texts show.
Back in 2020, the sexter rep fired off hundreds of messages to his then-political director in which he repeatedly pressed her for nudes and clamored for her to “squeeze my balls,” among other advances, while he was married.
“What kind of panties do you wear?” Gonzales (R-Texas), 45, texted his then political director, asking about what she wears to bed in June 2020 while he was in the midst of a bruising GOP primary fight, a San Antonio Express-News report revealed.
During their exchange, Gonzales repeatedly pressed the woman, who was not identified in the report, for sex and to have her “squeeze my balls.” But she turned him down again and again.
“47 nos is about my limit,” he concluded after his failed advances that night. Then the next day, on June 15, 2020, he wrote back in pursuit of a photo from her texting, “I know what I want and won’t stop until I get it.”
She replied with a facepalm emoji and urged him not to behave like that in Congress. Gonzales would later win his race and get sworn into the House of Representatives in early 2021.
“This behavior needs to stop,” the woman, who wasn’t named in the report, told the outlet.
The Post has not independently verified the text messages and reached out to Gonzales’ office for comment.
Gonzales has declined to step down from the House amid the growing scandal of his past text-heavy sexual advances on female subordinate staffers. However, he dropped his reelection bid after getting into a May 26 runoff race for his 23rd Congressional District seat against Republican Brandon Herrera.
Looming over his decision to remain in Congress is the House GOP’s ultra-slim 217 to 214 majority, with one independent, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), caucusing with Republicans. Him resigning from the House early could significantly tighten his party’s margins, which is why GOP leadership has been careful about pushing him to step down.
The Lone Star State Republican, a father of six, had acknowledged wrongdoing with Regina Santos-Aviles, another staffer, who had privately admitted to having an affair with the congressman to a colleague.
Santos-Aviles, a mother of one, died after pouring gasoline on herself and getting set on fire last September in what her family described as an accident. News of the affair between her and Gonzales, which began in 2024, broke shortly thereafter in the Daily Mail.
Leaked messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles showed the congressman badgering her for “sexy pics” and discussing his sexual fantasies. Early last month, Gonzales went on a conservative talk show and described the ordeal as a “mistake” and “a lapse in judgment.
During both his affair with Santos-Aviles and his sexual advances on his political director during his 2020 campaign, Gonzales was married to his wife Angel, the two of whom share six children together.
His former political director, who was single at the time, denied ever getting into a physical relationship with Gonzales, though the text messages show him meeting his then-political director at her home several times. She was about a decade older than him, had also served in the military, and described herself as more conservative than Gonzales, according to the report.
“He obviously pursued, pursued, pursued her like he did with me,” she told the outlet. “I never took him serious[ly]… It wasn’t until this poor girl died that I thought, ‘No, this guy is pure evil.’”
“I’m not totally innocent in all this,” she later reflected to the outlet, expressing regret for having “played” him.
The congressman eventually severed ties with her after she bashed him on the internet for supporting the formation of the House Select Jan. 6 Committee. She later volunteered for Herrera’s campaign in 2024.
