A text message attributed to a former aide to U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales has renewed allegations that the Texas Republican had an affair with the staffer months before she died by suicide in 2025, adding a volatile new dispute to an already competitive primary campaign.
The allegations center on Regina Ann “Regi” Santos-Aviles, a district staffer who worked for Gonzales and died after an incident at her home in Uvalde. The San Antonio Express-News reported that Santos-Aviles acknowledged the relationship in a message to a colleague, and a former staffer said she confided details about the affair. Gonzales declined to address the substance of the claims and has described the reports as political attacks, as early voting began this week for the March 3 Republican primary in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District.
Santos-Aviles, 35, served as a regional district director in Gonzales’ sprawling border district, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and includes Uvalde. She was married and had a child, relatives and prior reports have said. The medical examiner later ruled her death a suicide, and local and state officials have withheld many investigative records tied to the case, including 911 calls and other documents, after requests from news organizations.
The latest attention follows a report that described a message Santos-Aviles sent months before her death in which she referred to “an affair with our boss,” according to a screenshot shared with reporters. A former Gonzales staffer who said he was close to Santos-Aviles told the Express-News she described the relationship as romantic and said she became depressed after her husband discovered messages and after the relationship ended. The former staffer said concerns about her mental health were raised inside the office, but he believed the workplace response fell short.
Gonzales, a three-term congressman from San Antonio, has not publicly confirmed any relationship with Santos-Aviles and has previously dismissed similar rumors as false. On Wednesday, he blamed his primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, for turning the staffer’s death into campaign ammunition and said he would not take part in what he called smears. Gonzales also offered condolences to Santos-Aviles’ family and praised her as a public servant who cared about people in the district.
The dispute has pulled in news outlets across Texas and beyond and has sharpened attention on the internal dynamics of a congressional office, where relationships between supervisors and subordinates can carry both ethical and political consequences. Even as the allegations ricochet through the campaign, key pieces of the official record remain out of public view. In December, the Texas attorney general’s office said certain records tied to Santos-Aviles’ death could be withheld, leaving the public with only limited official details about what happened and how authorities documented it.
The Express-News editorial board said Wednesday that the reporting caused it to withdraw a prior endorsement of Gonzales in the Republican primary and to offer no recommendation in the race. In an editorial, the board said the new account raised questions about judgment because the alleged relationship involved a subordinate and occurred while Gonzales was married. The paper said it would revisit the contest later, but that it was stepping back from backing Gonzales in the primary after the latest details surfaced.
What is not disputed is that Santos-Aviles died in September 2025 after a fire-related incident at her residence. Earlier reporting by local television stations said she was found injured outside her home and later died at a hospital. Authorities have said there was no indication of foul play. The coroner’s ruling, along with the decision to keep many records secret, has left the case largely framed by accounts from people who knew her and from political figures who have seized on the story.
People who worked with Santos-Aviles described her as a visible presence in Uvalde and in surrounding communities, where district staff help constituents navigate federal agencies and where local connections matter. Former colleagues said she was often the point of contact for residents seeking help with veterans issues, immigration cases, passports and disaster assistance. In a district still marked by the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, staff members who spend time in the community can become well known, which made her death and the renewed attention on her personal life especially raw for some residents.
According to accounts described in the Express-News report, the alleged affair is said to have occurred in 2024. A former staffer said Santos-Aviles told him the relationship began while she worked for Gonzales and that it later ended. The former staffer also said the change affected her standing in the office, with her responsibilities shifting and her relationship with the congressman becoming strained. He said he ultimately resigned and later worked on Democratic campaigns, a detail Gonzales allies have pointed to as they question the motives behind the renewed allegations.
The attorney for Santos-Aviles’ husband confirmed to reporters that office staff were aware of the relationship, but said he did not believe it was the direct cause of her death. The former staffer who shared the text message said the aftermath of the alleged relationship, including its discovery by her husband and the breakdown of professional ties, was part of a wider decline in her mental health. Officials have not publicly released a full timeline of events leading up to her death, and the sealed records mean there is no complete official account available to the public.
The clash has unfolded as Gonzales faces another serious challenge from Herrera, a social media personality and gun rights advocate who lost to Gonzales in a 2024 Republican runoff. The 23rd District has a history of tight primaries and runoff elections, and it is considered a key seat along the U.S. Mexico border where immigration and border security dominate political messaging. Gonzales has pitched himself as a border-focused conservative with a record of working on immigration legislation, while opponents have portrayed him as insufficiently aligned with hard-line priorities.
In the days leading up to the newest reports, Gonzales had leaned heavily into endorsements and familiar campaign themes. He has promoted support from national Republicans and framed his opponents as unserious or extreme. After the text message story broke, Gonzales redirected his attacks toward Herrera, saying his rival was exploiting a tragedy. Herrera has criticized Gonzales on border policy and voting record, and his campaign and allied voices have amplified the affair allegations, though specific statements have varied across social media and interviews.
Because the allegations concern personal conduct in a congressional office, they have also raised questions about workplace policies, supervision and how warnings about staff well-being were handled. Former staffers said concerns about Santos-Aviles’ mental health were discussed among colleagues. Gonzales has not publicly addressed whether his office offered counseling or other support, or how staffing decisions were made after the alleged relationship ended. Congressional offices operate with wide discretion over personnel matters, and internal decisions often remain private unless a complaint is filed or an investigation is opened.
For the communities Santos-Aviles served, the political fight has collided with grief. Friends and former colleagues have described the difficulty of watching her death become a campaign issue, while others have argued that questions about power and accountability cannot be separated from the facts. Some residents and advocates in Uvalde have said they want the public conversation to focus on her work and on the stresses faced by people serving in high-pressure public jobs. Others have said any evidence of misconduct by an elected official deserves scrutiny, especially when it involves a subordinate.
With early voting now underway and Election Day less than two weeks away, the controversy has introduced uncertainty about how much the allegations will matter to Republican voters in a district where border security, crime and federal spending often dominate. Gonzales still begins the race with the advantages of incumbency, name recognition and established fundraising networks, while challengers hope the renewed story changes the contest’s momentum. The Express-News decision to withdraw its endorsement added to the political fallout, though editorial decisions do not always translate into votes in a polarized primary.
In the near term, the next developments are likely to be political rather than legal. No agency has announced any investigation into Gonzales connected to the allegations, and officials have said Santos-Aviles’ death was a suicide. The continued sealing of records means the public may not see a fuller official account unless a court orders release or authorities change their position. Campaigns, meanwhile, are expected to continue trading claims through the end of early voting and into the March 3 primary, with the possibility of a runoff later in the spring if no candidate wins a majority.
As of Wednesday, Feb. 18, Gonzales had not answered questions about the text message and continued to deny the allegations broadly, while his opponents pressed for accountability and the family’s grief remained in the background of a race suddenly dominated by personal conduct claims. The next milestone is the March 3 primary vote, followed by any runoff schedule set under Texas election rules if the field stays crowded.
Author note: Last updated February 18, 2026.