Texas Rep. Gonzalez resists calls to resign over allegations he had an affair with a former employee who died.

HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez of Texas resisted growing calls Tuesday from fellow Republicans in Congress to resign over a report of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after setting herself on fire.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky joined Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina in calling on Gonzalez to step down immediately. Gonzalez is locked in a tough race in the Texas Republican primary on March 3, where he faces a challenger who narrowly defeated him in the 2024 GOP runoff.

He told reporters that he would not resign. A resignation would leave Republicans with a 217-214 majority until March, when the first of three special elections to fill Georgia’s vacancies would be held.

He added: “There will be opportunities for all the details and facts to emerge.” “What I saw is not all the facts.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would speak with Gonzalez on Tuesday.

Johnson said Monday that the accusations against Gonzalez “should be taken seriously,” but added: “In every case like this, you have to allow the investigation to move forward and all the facts to come out.”

“If being impeached for something is central to someone’s ability to continue to serve in the House, a lot of people are going to have to resign, be impeached or expelled from Congress,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Mace announced that she had introduced a resolution to force the House Ethics Committee to make public its reports and records of sexual harassment allegations against members of Congress.

Gonzalez said in a social media post last week that he had been blackmailed and then indicated in another post on Sunday that he was the target of “coordinated political attacks.”

His primary opponent is Brandon Herrera, a gunsmith and gun rights influencer who calls himself the “AK Guy” on YouTube, where his channel has nearly 4.2 million subscribers. Gonzalez defeated Herrera by fewer than 400 votes in the 2024 runoff.

President Donald Trump had endorsed Gonzalez for re-election in December.

The San Antonio Express-News reported last week that it had obtained text messages in which a former staffer, Regina Ann Santos Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she was having an affair with the lawmaker.

The Associated Press did not independently obtain copies of the letters. The lawyer of Adrian Avilés, Santos Avilés’ husband, said that the husband discovered this case before his wife’s death.

Regina Ann Santos Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her Uvalde home. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a suicide by self-immolation.

“Where are the other men in the Republican Party?” Massie on Tuesday asked in a post on X for Gonzalez to resign, adding that Trump should rescind his endorsement.

Gonzalez, whose district extends from San Antonio to El Paso and straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, has six children with his wife.

His extortion allegation is based on an email from the employee’s husband’s attorney, Robert Barrera, discussing a potential lawsuit against the lawmaker and a possible settlement with a nondisclosure agreement. The email says the maximum refundable amount is $300,000.

Barrera said he was not trying to blackmail Gonzalez and called the accusation an attempt by the congressman to look like a political victim.

Hannah reported from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press journalist Kevin Freking in Washington also contributed.