A second former staffer of Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told NBC News he sent sexually explicit text messages to her while she was working for him.
The San Antonio Express-News first reported that Gonzales, who is married and a father of six, texted the woman, repeatedly asking for sex and nude photos.
On Monday, NBC News spoke with the woman, who worked as Gonzales’ political director on his first campaign in 2020. She said that all of the details and text messages cited in the San Antonio Express-News were accurate.
The former campaign staffer said she is coming forward now because she believes Gonzales should be held accountable for his past actions. NBC News generally does not name victims of alleged sexual misconduct unless they have come forward publicly.
The new revelations come one month after Gonzales dropped out of his primary runoff after the House Ethics Committee said it was investigating his relationship with another woman, a congressional aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide last year. Gonzales had exchanged sexually explicit messages with Santos-Aviles in May 2024, according to messages obtained by NBC News and confirmed by her widower.
Gonzales said in a podcast appearance last month that he had “made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment,” appearing to reference the Santos-Aviles affair.
The Ethics Committee declined to comment on the latest allegation against Gonzales. The committee is investigating whether he violated the House code of conduct, which prohibits members from having sexual relationships with their congressional subordinates.
While he is no longer seeking re-election, Gonzales has said he intends to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in January 2027. His seat is critical given that Republicans hold a minuscule 217-214 majority over the Democrats.
A Gonzales spokeswoman hung up the phone Monday when asked for comment. She did not respond to a follow-up text message and email.
“I call it sexual bullying,” the former political director told NBC News in a phone interview.
“The objective is not to beat a dead horse,” she said of why she’s coming forward now. “The man’s done, but at the end of the day ... this behavior has got to stop. What can I do? This is what I’m asking myself. What is my part in this?”
The former political director, who previously served in the Army and later worked as a defense contractor, said Gonzales came over to her house a couple of times to discuss the campaign but never tried to get physical with her.
In texts, however, she said he repeatedly expressed wanting to have sex with her and asked her to send him nude photos. She rebuffed him every time. “47 nos is about my limit,” he replied to her at one point, according to a text that was printed by the San Antonio Express-News and that she confirmed to NBC News.
She said there were more text messages than those published by the San Antonio outlet. “Some of it was just — it’s just too salacious,” she said, declining to share the unpublished messages.
She said she had not spoken to Gonzales since early 2021.
“I think if I would have ever given him a hint through text that I would do something with him, then I think he would have, but, I mean, you saw it, 47 nos,” she said in the phone interview.
“It’s kind of like dealing with a toddler. I just kept trying to redirect him,” she said.
