Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing steep odds in his upcoming GOP primary as fallout continues from a sex scandal involving a former aide who died by suicide last year.
Gonzales, 45, a married father of six and Navy veteran, had an affair with his former district director, Regina Ann “Regi” Santos-Aviles, 35. Santos-Aviles self-immolated in the garden of her Texas Hill Country home in September.
A former Gonzales staffer told the San Antonio Express-News that the congressman failed to act after being warned about Santos-Aviles’ declining mental health. The report said Santos-Aviles’ husband had learned of the affair and that she became depressed.