Ernest Anthony Gonzales II (born October 10, 1980) is an American politician and United States Navy veteran who has served since 2021 as the U.S. representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Gonzales is considered a moderate Republican. In 2023, he was censured by the Texas Republican Party for voting in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. He is also one of 18 Republicans who voted against Jim Jordan's nomination for Speaker of the House all three times, and the only Republican to have voted against the House rules package afterwards. Gonzales's votes prompted several conservative primary challengers in 2024, most notably YouTuber Brandon Herrera, who forced a runoff after Gonzales received less than 50% of the vote. He won the runoff election with 50.7% of the vote. == Early life and education == Gonzales was raised in San Antonio, Texas. He earned an Associate of Arts from Chaminade University of Honolulu, a Bachelor of Science from Excelsior University, a graduate certificate in legislative studies from Georgetown University, and a Master of Arts from American Public University. He is a PhD candidate in international development at the University of Southern Mississippi. == Early career == From 1999 to 2019, Gonzales served in the United States Navy, retiring with the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer. A trained cryptologist, Gonzales was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also stationed in Tampa, Florida; Pensacola, Florida; Kāneʻohe Bay; and San Antonio, and assigned to the United States Navy Office of Legislative Affairs. Gonzales served as a Department of Defense fellow in the office of Senator Marco Rubio and also worked as an assistant professor of political science at the University of Maryland. == U.S. House of Representatives == === Elections === ==== 2020 ==== Gonzales ran for Texas's 23rd congressional district in the 2020 election. The seat was open, as three-term Republican incumbent Will Hurd did not seek reelection. In the Republican primary, Gonzales narrowly defeated Raul Reyes after a recount. During the primary, Gonzales was endorsed by Hurd and President Donald Trump. In the November general election, Gonzales defeated Democratic nominee Gina Ortiz Jones. The result was considered an upset, as most forecasters believed that the Democrats were favored to flip the district after Hurd announced his retirement. ==== 2022 ==== Gonzales ran for re-election in 2022, winning his primary with 78% of the vote and the general election with 55.87% against Democrat John Lira and Independent candidate Frank Lopez Jr. ==== 2024 ==== Gonzales was reelected to a third term in 2024. To secure Gonzales' victory over his primary challenger Brandon Herrera, several establishment-allied super PACs put more than $4 million in TV advertising. Herrera spent $1.3 million on TV ads compared to Gonzales' $1.9 million. After facing down conservative opposition over his votes in Congress, Gonzales eventually garnered 62.3% of the vote in the general election. Gonzales defeated democratic challenger S. Limon, winning by over 71,000 votes. === Tenure === Gonzales voted against impeaching Trump after the events of January 6, 2021, saying that the nation needed to heal and that he looked forward to working with President Biden to do that. Like all other Senate and House Republicans, Gonzales voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. On May 19, 2021, Gonzales was one of 35 Republicans to join all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6, 2021 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol. On March 4, 2023, the Texas Republican Party's executive committee censured Gonzales for failing to vote in line with the party positions, citing his decision to support the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the Respect for Marriage Act (both in 2022) as well as his vote against a House rules packages passed after the contested 2023 Speaker election. Conservative representatives such as Matt Gaetz and Bob Good endorsed Brandon Herrera, a primary challenger to Gonzales for the 2024 election, who Gonzales blasted during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union in April 2024. He called them "real scumbags" who "walk around with white hoods", and called his primary opponent a "neo-Nazi" and an "anarchist" intent on "burning the place down." This came after Gonzales voted in favor of three contentious foreign aid packages for Ukraine, Israel, and East Asia, all of which required bipartisan backing to move on. ==== Alleged affair with political aide ==== On February 17, 2026, the San Antonio Express-News published text messages allegedly from Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, a political aide to Gonzales, to another staffer. In the text messages from April 2025, Santos-Aviles wrote that she had an affair with Gonzales in 2024. According to her husband, Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles confessed to the affair on May 29, 2024, one day after Gonzales's victory in the 2024 Republican primary. Aviles told media outlets that his wife had a sexual relationship with Gonzales for two to three weeks before he caught her, and she admitted the affair. Following this, Aviles asked his wife to quit her job, but she refused. Aviles then confronted Gonzales and his campaign about the affair, which led to Santos-Aviles being black-sheeped at work. The couple later separated, and Santos-Aviles fell into depression. Aviles stated that she threatened to kill herself in August 2025 before her suicide, but police arrived and found "nothing of concern." On September 13, 2025, Santos-Aviles poured gasoline on herself, outside of her home in Uvalde, and self-immolated. She died the following day at the Brooke Army Medical Center. Her death was ruled a suicide by the Bexar County medical examiner in November 2025. Police stated that video footage showed that Santos-Aviles was home alone at the time of the incident, and no foul play was suspected. A lawyer for Santos-Aviles' husband stated that her affair with Gonzales was an "open secret", and was not believed to have played a role in her suicide. The Daily Mail had previously reported on the alleged affair, though the story was denied by Gonzales at the time. According to Santos-Aviles' mother, her last words were "I don't want to die". Her funeral was held on September 25, 2025; Gonzales did not attend. In an official response to the publication of the text messages, Gonzales blamed primary opponent Brandon Herrera for the story's publishing, while declining to answer questions about the alleged affair. Several conservatives, including Herrera and Wesley Virdell, subsequently called on Gonzales to resign; while the San Antonio Express-News revoked their endorsement of Gonzales. The White House, who has endorsed Gonzales in the upcoming 2026 Republican primary, declined to comment. On February 23, 2026, the San Antonio Express-News published alleged text messages sent from Gonzales to Santos-Aviles, where Gonzales asked for a "sexy pic" and about her favorite sexual positions. Following this, Republican House representatives including Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett, Brandon Gill, Kevin Kiley, Anna Paulina Luna, Nancy Mace, Thomas Massie, Chip Roy, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy variously called on Gonzales to resign or drop his re-election bid. Conversely, Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as representatives Jim Jordan and Don Bacon did not call on Gonzales to resign. NBC News also reported that the Office of Congressional Conduct concluded an investigation into the matter, but is not scheduled to submit a report until after the primary ends. Despite calls from congressional members, Gonzales announced that he had no intention to resign, saying: "There will be an opportunity for all the details and facts to come out. What you've seen is not all the facts." === Committee assignments === Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies === Caucus memberships === Climate Solutions Caucus Problem Solvers Caucus Republican Study Committee === Party leadership === Assistant Republican Whip (2021–present) == Political positions == === Abortion === Gonzales describes himself as pro-life. He co-sponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2021 (H.R. 18), which aims to codify the Hyde Amendment banning federal funding for abortions. === Foreign policy === During the Russo-Ukrainian War, Gonzales signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Gonzales voted to support Israel following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. === Gun rights === Gonzales supported amending the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to remove a proposed red flag law provision. He and other House Republicans signed a letter that argued the provision would infringe on Second Amendment rights and allow "military judges and magistrates to issue military court gun confiscation orders." After the Robb Elementary School shooting in Gonzales's Congressional district, Gonzales voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and cited his experience growing up in an abusive household (including an instance of his father threatening his mother with a gun) as his reason for supporting the act. === Immigration === Gonzales supports keeping Title 42 expulsion in place and, along with Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra arguing that the removal of Title 42 would encourage illegal immigration at the southern border. In 2022, Gonzales argued that while the Remain in Mexico policy enacted by the Trump administration had flaws, it had been an effective strategy to prevent illegal immigration and asylum fraud and that repealing laws on illegal immigration and off-soil asylum processing had led to cases such as the trailer deaths in San Antonio earlier that year. In response to the repeal of the Remain in Mexico policy under Biden, Gonzales called for an increase in immigration judges to process asylum cases "in days, not years." He supports the expansion and simplification of work visas to reform legal immigration. === LGBT issues === On July 19, 2022, Gonzales and 46 other House Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act. It would require each state to recognize any marriage performed in another state, and codify same-sex marriage and Obergefell v. Hodges into federal law. It was signed into law by President Biden on December 13, 2022. === Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 === Gonzales was among 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House. == Personal life == Gonzales and his wife, Angel, have six children. Angel served as the treasurer and custodian of records for Gonzales's campaign. He is Catholic. == Electoral history == == See also == List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress == References == == External links == Official website Campaign website Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress Profile at Vote Smart Appearances on C-SPAN