Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas is facing significant backlash in his district following a scandal involving an affair with a married aide. Residents and local officials have labeled him a “ghost” and a “dead man walking.”

Despite continuing to receive his annual congressional salary of $174,000, critics allege that Gonzales has become increasingly absent from his duties. Reports from his southern Texas constituency suggest he has been unresponsive to some constituents and is actively avoiding the media.

In early October, the three-term U.S. House representative announced that he would not seek re-election. This decision came after he admitted to a sexual relationship with a staff member, who tragically died by suicide.

The aide, Regina Aviles, was Gonzales’s regional director from November 2021 until her death in September 2025. The details surrounding her death are harrowing; she set herself on fire in her backyard in Uvalde, Texas.

The Daily Mail broke the news of their affair shortly after Aviles’s passing, bringing the situation into the public eye.

The Daily Mail was the first news organization to report their romantic relationship in October – just weeks after Aviles’ suicide.

It wasn’t until February when Aviles’ husband released text messages confirming the affair that Gonzales was forced to come clean – effectively ending his political career.

‘He’s a ghost now. He shows up to vote (in Congress) and that is it. Nobody hears from him otherwise,’ a fellow Texas Republican who asked to speak anonymously told Daily Mail.

Image of Rep. Tony Gonzales and Regina Aviles discovered on her phone. Gonzales’s selfie show him and Aviles smiling and was provided to Daily Mail by Bobby Barrera, the lawyer representing Aviles’s husband, Adrian]

Amid mounting pressure from his Republican colleague, Gonzales finally admitted to cheating on his wife a day after coming in second in a razor-tight March 3 primary.

The US Speaker of the House then called on Gonzales to drop out of the race- leaving a clear path for his opponent Brandon Herrera to move forward in the general election to represent the district. 

‘I think his ability to govern has been kind of crippled by, you know. The fact that he’s, essentially a dead man walking,’ the Capitol Hill source said.

Gonzales did not respond to Daily Mail’s request for comment. 

Herrera, a Second Amendment-loving YouTuber, will face a Democratic opponent, Katy Padilla Stout, in an election he is heavily favored to win. 

The massive conservative-leaning district includes nearly 800 miles of US-Mexico border that stretches from San Antonio to El Paso. 

With his political career and personal life in turmoil, Gonzales is now ignoring at least one constituent who used to reach him on his personal cell phone number, according to the local sheriff.

One voter in Uvalde claimed veterans in the small town two hours west of San Antonio hadn’t heard from Gonzales- himself a retired Navy master chief and cryptologist- in weeks.

‘You would think he would at least keep up with services to veterans, but he hasn’t talked to them in weeks,’ the one-time Gonzales supporter who asked to remain anonymous explained. 

The late Regina Aviles, 35, can be seen at the top left of the photo holding up a phone and taking a picture of her boss, Congress Tony Gonzales (R.) The Republican stands behind Elon Musk with his arms crossed during a tour of the US-Mexico border in September 2023

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is seen in the U.S. Capitol before the House voted to keep the government funded into March, on Thursday, January 18, 2024

Regina Aviles admitted to having an affair with her married boss, Rep. Tony Gonzales, in a text message to a friend shared with Daily Mail by the pal

The three-term congressman from Texas one heavily promoted his regular TV news appearances on his social media accounts, but now shuns the media 

Earlier this month, Gonzales shared a photo of him leaving the White House on his social media before his fall from grace

Republican congressional candidate Brandon Herrera, standing center with the microphone, speaks at a campaign rally at the Constantino’s Pizza on February 26, 2026 in Somerset, Texas. Herrera is expected to replace Rep. Tony Gonzales in November if he defeats the Democrat candidate for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District

A woman who lives in West Texas and reached out to Gonzales for help on an issue never heard back from him – leaving her to turn to the local sheriff for assistance, the sheriff told us.  

‘I have had one local who did communicate with him that said that, yeah, he’s not responding to anything, and basically…she was gonna reach out to Brandon (Herrera) and talk about some of the plans she had been having with the congressman,’ the police source said, while asking not to be named because he had had a long-standing relationship with Gonzales.

When reached by phone, Herrera confirmed he’s been contacted by multiple voters and elected local officials who all says they haven’t been able to reach or heard back from Gonzales since his political career imploded.

‘He’s a bit politically radioactive, so we need somebody who can step up and fill that role,’ Brandon Herrera told the Daily Mail.

Herrera, who doesn’t have the job yet, says he’s taking on as much of the responsibilities of the role he’s interviewing for and getting to know the people he wants to work for.

‘If I can go out and advocate for the people of the district…it’s been a privilege to be able to start doing that,’ the congressional candidate said. 

Even if Gonzales had not dropped out of the race, he was unlikely to have survived a primary run-off between him and Herrera.

Herrera almost beat Gonzales two years ago, losing by less than 400 votes in the primary in 2024- and that was before the affair scandal.  

Even though some claim Gonzales may have abdicated some of his Congressional duties, leaders in DC are letting him get away with it because Gonzales still has the power of his vote, which he could use to hurt Republicans if he wanted to. 

‘The word that kept getting tossed was “delicate.” There’s a very real scenario where he becomes Thomas Massie, except without principle, just to be an a–hole,’ the DC insider told Daily Mail.