House GOP leaders ask Tony Gonzales to drop reelection bid

The call comes a day after Gonzales admitted having affair with staffer and the opening of a House Ethics probe.

Rep. Tony Gonzales arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill, Oct. 11, 2023. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

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.”

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