Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) asked a staffer to send him a “sexy pic” in 2024, according to text messages obtained by HuffPost and other news outlets, undercutting the congressman’s ongoing insistence he never had an affair with the woman.

Several of Gonzales’ Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives called on the congressman to either resign or end his reelection bid on Monday. He’s facing a strong right-wing Republican challenger in a primary election next month.

The staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, died last year after setting herself on fire. Her husband has said she entered a depressive spiral after their marriage collapsed following his discovery of her relationship with Gonzales.

Gonzales continues to deny there was ever a relationship, and has even claimed he’s being “blackmailed” because an attorney for Santos-Aviles’ widower sought a $300,000 settlement over Gonzales allegedly retaliating against her after people found out about their relationship.

In the messages, sent after midnight on May 9, 2024, Santos-Aviles resisted Gonzales’ advances. “You don’t really want a hot picture of me,” she wrote. He responded, in part, “I’m just such a visual person.”

And she continued to push back: “This is going too far boss.”

The following June, Santos-Aviles’ husband, Adrian Aviles, texted from her number to several other staffers in Gonzales’ office, identifying himself as her husband and saying they’d be getting divorced because “she’s been having an affair on me with your boss Tony Gonzales for some time now.”

A spokesperson for Gonzales did not respond to a request for comment on the texts. In a social media post on Sunday, Gonzales claimed he’s the victim of a coordinated political attack.

“During my six years in Congress not a single formal complaint has been levied against my office,” Gonzales wrote. “Now days away from an election, coordinated political attacks reign in. IT WONT WORK. Half way through early voting and the intensity resides w/ TG voters. I’d rather be us than them.”

Gonzales is up against YouTube gun influencer Brandon Herrera, also known as “The AK Guy,” in the Republican primary election next month. Herrera narrowly lost to Gonzales in the 2024 primary. Herrera said Sunday he’d seen the texts and said he should resign.

“It is now clear to me Tony Gonzales is a sexual predator, who abused his position of power and wrecked a family,” Herrera wrote. “I also now know this is not the only case.”

A poll Herrera’s campaign shared with a reporter Monday suggested support for Gonzales has cratered in the district, which includes Uvalde, the site of a horrific school shooting in 2022. Gonzales was one of only a few Republicans who supported a gun reform bill in the wake of the shooting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told a reporter Monday that the allegations against Gonzales are serious.

“I endorsed Tony before all these allegations came out, they’re obviously very serious, and I’ve spoken with him and told him he’s got to address that in an appropriate way with his constituents,” Johnson told NBC News’ Ryan Nobles.

Several of Gonzales’ House GOP colleagues blasted him in response to news about the texts on Monday. Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Gonzales should resign, while Reps. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said he should drop his reelection bid.

“Congressional staff serve their country. They should never have to endure predatory behavior from the people they work for. Congressman Gonzales must address these allegations and resign,” Mace said on social media.

Aviles told the San Antonio Express-News that after he texted his wife’s colleagues, they “black-sheeped her” and essentially tried to make her quit her job. That’s the basis for a potential liability claim under the Congressional Accountability Act, a law designed to protect congressional staffers from sexual harassment and retaliation by members of Congress.

Bobby Barrera, Aviles’ attorney, told HuffPost he and his client don’t blame Gonzales for his wife’s death, but they do blame him for wrecking her life.

“He didn’t put a gun to her head,” Barrera said. “But is he the impetus which caused the breakup of the marriage? Of course. Did he do the workplace retaliation? Of course. Did he pigeonhole her and prevent her from advancing her career after the discovery of the affair? Absolutely.”

Aviles initially pursued the legal claim discreetly, offering to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He has said he wants to protect his 8-year-old son from the scandal that ended his mother’s life. But the story broke open last week after another staffer told the San Antonio Express-News about what happened.

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