Brandon Herrera holds a weapon he auctioned off to raise funds for his failed 2024 congressional campaign. Credit: X / @TheAKGuy

Congressional candidate Brandon Herrera is calling on Republican primary rival U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales to resign following an Express-News article alleging the South Texas congressman had an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide.

Herrera, an online influencer known to many as the “AK Guy” for his controversial YouTube videos on firearms, is engaged in a primary battle with Gonzales to represent Texas’ 23rd District, which includes West San Antonio and long swath of the Texas-Mexico border.

“Tony Gonzales must resign,” Herrera said in a Wednesday statement. “He not only broke House ethics rules by having an adulterous affair with a member of his congressional staff and by using taxpayer money to fund the affair, but he also broke trust with the public by insisting that the initial reporting of the affair was false.”

Herrera went on to argue that similar behavior in the military would result in a court martial and dismissal from service.

“We should not hold the political leaders who oversee our armed services to a lower standard than the one to which our fighting men and women are held,” he added.

Rumors have swirled for months that Gonzalez had a romantic relationship with former staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who took her own life by setting herself on fire outside her Uvalde home on Sept. 14. Both the President Donald Trump-endorsed congressman and Santos-Aviles were married at the time of the alleged liaison.

Late Tuesday, the Express-News reported obtained a text message sent by Santos-Aviles to a former Gonzales staffer stating that she’d had an affair with the lawmaker. The staffer also told the daily that she’d recounted details of her 2024 affair with Gonzales, adding both that her husband had found out and that she’d slipped into depression after Gonzales ended the relationship.

Despite the staffer telling the daily the romance was an “open secret” within the congressional office, Gonzales didn’t attend Santos-Aviles’ funeral. He also denied having the affair to a room full of press during the Texas Tribune Festival in November.

“The rumors are completely untruthful, and Regina’s family has asked for privacy,” Gonzales said at the time.

Despite the Express-News’ report on the alleged affair and Herrera’s condemnation of his rival, the paper hasn’t thrown its endorsement behind the controversial YouTuber. In a scathing editorial, the paper withdrew its endorsement of Gonzales but stopped short of endorsing Herrera in the primary.

“We will make no recommendation in the GOP primary for this race and will circle back in the general election,” the Express-News Editorial Board wrote.

However, the paper added that it stands by its endorsement of Katy Padilla in the Democratic primary.

While the Express-News didn’t go into its reservations about Herrera, the social media influencer drew scrutiny ahead of his 2024 run against Gonzales for content posted in his YouTube channel. He also received a recent cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer representing Trump demanding that he stop using the president’s image and likeness in campaign materials.

Herrera’s headline-grabbing online antics have included joking about veteran suicides, marching to a Nazi propaganda song and mocking the appearance of Trump’s teenage son Barron.​

Herrera’s campaign also came under scrutiny from the Federal Election Commission scrutiny, which questioned the accuracy of employment and occupational-status information provided by its donors.

Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

​

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...