House Republican leadership is calling on Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales to drop his reelection bid after he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a former staffer who later died by suicide.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the top four Republican leaders in the House said they asked Gonzales to withdraw his nomination for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District despite the Texas member telling reporters earlier this week he would not do so.
The statement stops short of asking Gonzales to resign and leave office early, something that a handful of Republicans have separately called for but would further diminish their already-slim majority.
The statement comes one day after the House Ethics Committee announced it would open an investigation into the alleged affair between Gonzales and his former staffer, which would be a violation of House rules. Gonzales has said he would cooperate with the investigation.
“The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman Tony Gonzales’s conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously,” House Republican leadership said in a statement. “We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues.”
Despite denying the allegations for weeks, Gonzales admitted to the affair in a radio interview with Joe Pagliarulo on Wednesday.
“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 said.
The Texas Republican did, however, deny that he is responsible for the death of his staffer, who set herself on fire outside of her home in 2025. Her death came roughly a year after she and Gonzales exchanged text messages in which the Texas lawmaker reportedly tried to coerce her into sending explicit photographs of herself.
Those text messages were obtained and published by the San Antonio Express-News.
Gonzales has not said whether he would drop his reelection bid after the statement by leadership. Gonzales is locked in a runoff primary election for his seat that will be held in May.