House GOP leaders ask Tony Gonzales to drop reelection bid

Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republican leaders asked Rep. Tony Gonzales to end his reelection bid, they said Thursday, after the Texas lawmaker admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

The announcement comes a day after the House Ethics Committee launched an probe into Gonzales and POLITICO reported that independent House investigators found a "substantial reason to believe" that he had a sexual relationship with the subordinate.

“The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman Tony Gonzales’s conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously," Johnson and the three other highest-ranking House Republicans said in a statement. "In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”

A Gonzales spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Gonzales has advanced to a May 26 runoff against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera, who narrowly outpolled him in Tuesday's primary. He previously denied the accusations as “rumors” that “are completely untruthful” before admitting to the affair with Regina Santos-Aviles earlier this month.

“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales told radio host Joe Pagliarulo shortly after the primary.

He said the affair had “absolutely nothing to do with” Santos-Aviles’ death.

Gonzales has insisted he will not resign from Congress, as some of his GOP colleages have suggested. Notably, Johnson and the other GOP leaders did not call for Gonzales to resign — which would create a vacancy lasting months as they struggle to manage a narrow Republican majority.