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Second ex-staffer accuses Texas lawmaker of sending sexually explicit messages

Republican Tony Gonzales ended re-election bid in March after admitting to having affair with a different aide Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox A second former female staffer for Tony Gonzales, a Republican congressman from Texas , has come forward claiming Gonzales sent her sexually explicit messages. The San Antonio Express-News first reported the text messages on Monday and NBC News later confirmed the report. In March, Gonzales admitted to having an affair with a separate aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide last year. Neither the San Antonio Express-News nor NBC shared the name of the second staffer, citing policies around sharing the names of victims of sexual harassment, but both confirmed she served as the political director of Gonzales’s 2020 campaign for Congress . Before that, she served in the army and worked as a defense contractor. The San Antonio Express-News obtained hundreds of text messages that Gonzales allegedly exchanged with his former political director in 2020, which reportedly show he asked her “more than a dozen times to send nude photos over a period of three days, and persisted each time she declined”. The congressman “also attempted to initiate a sexual relationship over several weeks”, according to the report. “I call it sexual bullying,” his former political director told NBC News on Monday. “It’s kind of like dealing with a toddler. I just kept trying to redirect him.” Although Gonzales allegedly visited her home twice, the staffer said the relationship never became physical. “We didn’t so much as touch,” she told the San Antonio Express-News. Gonzales is married and a father of six children. He has said he intends to serve out his current term, which runs until January 2027, but dropped out of his re-election campaign after the House ethics committee announced an investigation into his relationship with Santos-Aviles, who died in September 2025. Gonzales’s political director told the San Antonio Express-News that her boss’s messages made her uncomfortable but not enough to quit her job. After Gonzales took office, she resigned from his team, citing political differences, and began volunteering for Brandon Herrera, a gun rights advocate who ran against Gonzales in March. After Gonzales halted his re-election campaign, Herrera became the Republican nominee for his seat in Congress. The former political director told the San Antonio Express-News that she decided to come forward with her story after hearing about Santos-Aviles’ death in March. Gonzales’s office didn’t immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.