2026年2月18日 / 美国东部时间下午2:45 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
托尼·冈萨雷斯议员的助手雷吉娜·桑托斯-阿维莱斯向一名同事发送短信称，她与这位共和党国会议员有染。数月后，35岁的桑托斯-阿维莱斯据称自焚身亡。
“我和我们的老板有染，我没事。”桑托斯-阿维莱斯在短信交流中说道，这段对话内容被哥伦比亚广播公司新闻获取。
这一消息最初由《圣安东尼奥快报》报道。
据乌瓦尔德警察局称，桑托斯-阿维莱斯于2025年9月14日去世，此前一天晚上，她在乌瓦尔德的家附近被发现严重烧伤。贝萨尔县法医于11月裁定其死亡为自杀，据哥伦比亚广播公司圣安东尼奥分台KENS报道。
冈萨雷斯在周三的一份声明中拒绝对这些指控置评，称他不会“参与这些人身诽谤，而是继续专注于帮助特朗普总统确保边境安全并改善所有德克萨斯州人民的生活。”
在11月的一次小组讨论中，这位45岁的国会议员否认了此事，称“这些谣言完全不真实。”冈萨雷斯已婚，育有六个孩子，而桑托斯-阿维莱斯也已婚并育有一子。
冈萨雷斯称桑托斯-阿维莱斯是“一个善良的人，毕生致力于让社区变得更美好。她的努力带来了前所未有的学校安全、医疗保健和农村供水改善。”他指责自己的一位主要对手布兰登·埃雷拉“利用一名心怀不满的前员工来抹黑她的名誉并谋取政治利益。”
冈萨雷斯的办公室还声称，举报这些短信的前员工已搬到洛杉矶为民主党竞选工作。但该前员工向《快报》否认自己从冈萨雷斯的任何主要对手那里获得报酬。
冈萨雷斯代表乌瓦尔德以及圣安东尼奥部分地区和得克萨斯州-墨西哥边境，目前正在竞选第四任期。这被视为安全的共和党席位，冈萨雷斯在上次选举中以24个百分点的优势获胜，尽管此后选区边界已发生变化。初选则更为接近——埃雷拉以仅400票的差距输给了冈萨雷斯。他今年再次挑战冈萨雷斯，并于周二呼吁冈萨雷斯退出竞选。3月3日的初选于周二开始提前投票。
“这对任何人来说都是完全不可接受的行为，更不用说国会议员了，”埃雷拉在社交媒体上发文称，“托尼必须辞职。”
得克萨斯州共和党州议员韦斯·维德雷尔代表该州第23国会选区的部分地区，也在这场不断发酵的丑闻中呼吁冈萨雷斯辞职。
“如果这是真的，而且看起来确实可信，托尼应该辞职，”维德雷尔在一份声明中表示，“这个家庭需要治愈并走出这场可怕的悲剧。如果他们不得不看到造成悲剧的人对情况毫无悔意，还继续当选代表他们进入国会，那将无法做到这一点。”
另一位前员工向《快报》讲述了桑托斯-阿维莱斯和冈萨雷斯之间所谓的婚外情。这位前员工告诉该报，在她的丈夫发现所谓的婚外情后，她陷入抑郁，而冈萨雷斯也解雇了她。
《快报》周二晚间撤回了对冈萨雷斯在竞选中的支持，并表示不会在此次竞选中给出推荐。
Months before death by suicide, aide texted colleague she had an affair with her boss, Rep. Tony Gonzales
February 18, 2026 / 2:45 PM EST / CBS News
Regina Santos-Aviles, an aide to Rep. Tony Gonzales, wrote a text message to a colleague that she had an affair with the Republican congressman. Months later, Santos-Aviles, 35, died after allegedly setting herself on fire.
“I had affair with our boss and I’m fine,” Santos-Aviles said in the text exchange, which was viewed by CBS News.
The news was first reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
Santos-Aviles died on Sept. 14, 2025, after she was found critically burned the night before near her home in Uvalde, according to the Uvalde Police Department. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide in November, according CBS San Antonio affiliate KENS.
In a statement on Wednesday, Gonzales would not comment on the allegations, saying he would not “engage in these personal smears and instead remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans.”
In a November appearance on a panel, the 45-year-old congressman denied the affair, saying “the rumors are completely untruthful.” Gonzales is a married father of six, and Santos-Aviles was also married and had a son.
Gonzales called Santos-Aviles a “kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place. Her efforts led to improvements in school safety, healthcare, and rural water like never before.” He accused one of his primary opponents, Brandon Herrera, of “using a disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points.”
Gonzales’ office also alleged that the ex-staffer who reported the texts has moved to Los Angeles to work for Democratic campaigns. The ex-staffer denied to the Express-News that he was paid by any of Gonzales’ primary opponents.
Gonzales, who represents Uvalde and parts of San Antonio and the Texas-Mexico border, is currently running for his fourth term. It’s considered a safe Republican seat, and Gonzales won the last election with a 24–point margin, although the district boundaries have been changed since then. The primary was much closer — Herrera lost to Gonzales by just 400 votes. He’s challenging Gonzales again this year and on Tuesday called on Gonzales to exit the race. Early voting started Tuesday in the March 3 primary.
“This is completely unacceptable behavior for anyone, let along a sitting member of Congress,” Herrera posted on social media. “Tony must step down.”
Republican state Rep. Wes Vidrell, who represents part of Texas’ 23rd congressional district also called on Gonzales to resign amid the rising scandal
“If this is true, and it does appear credible, Tony should step down,” Vidrell said in a statement. “The family deserves to heal and get past this terrible tragedy. That will be impossible to do if they have to see the person who did it show no remorse for the situation and get re-elected to represent them in Congress.”
Another former staffer told the Express-News about the alleged affair between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales. The former staffer told the newspaper that she spiraled into depression after her husband discovered the alleged affair and Gonzales cut her off.
The Express-News on Tuesday night pulled its endorsement of Gonzales in the race, and said it would not make not make a recommendation in the race.
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