Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the Uvalde Leader-News and is being shared with their permission.
U.S. Congressman Tony Gonzales’ office gave late Uvalde-based aide Regina Santos-Aviles a 26% salary boost and thousands of dollars in unspecified compensation in 2024, the same year she allegedly had an affair with the representative. The office stopped her annual raises and bonuses the next year, after her husband said he found out about the relationship.
During her roughly four years as Gonzales’ regional district director – from December 2021 until her Sept. 14, 2025, suicide – her yearly base salary increased from $47,500 to $68,000. During that time, three individuals on Gonzales’ payroll held the same title, and none of them received comparable raises to Santos-Aviles or reached her peak salary.
>> TIMELINE: Rep. Tony Gonzales’ relationship with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles
Between 2022 and 2023, her quarterly pay increased from just under $12,000 to $13,500, according to statements of disbursement published by the House of Representatives — a roughly 13% raise. That year, Paula Michelle Fagan made $14,500 per quarter. When Benjamin Shipkey took over Fagan’s position, he made $14,000 per quarter, and got $7,500 in “other compensation” for his first quarter. The additional compensation is comparable to his previous quarter’s salary as an outreach and grants coordinator.
In 2024, Santos-Aviles’ quarterly base salary jumped to $17,000, with a $3,200 bonus and over $1,500 in compensation listed as “personnel” or “other.” Her total reported income in 2024 was nearly $73,000. This is about $19,000, or 35 percent, more than she made the previous year.
Shipkey’s quarterly base salary, in comparison, increased by 7 percent to $15,000 during that same time period, falling thousands below Santos-Aviles’ pay despite previously earning more than she did in the role. He received a similar $4,000 bonus, but no other compensation.
The next person to hold the regional district director title, Roberto Garza Jr., made $13,000 each quarter in comparison to Santos-Aviles’ $17,000.
Affair
Santos-Aviles, 35, lit herself on fire at her Uvalde home last September. She died several hours later at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Her husband Adrian Aviles, from whom she was separated at the time of her death, and an unnamed former Gonzales staffer told the San Antonio Express-News in February that Santos-Aviles had an affair with the congressman in 2024. Aviles said the affair was the reason the couple split, which caused Santos-Aviles to start “spiraling.”
Her husband said after he found out about the relationship on May 31, 2024, Gonzales’ office tried to “make her quit,” and severed communications with the aide. In 2025, Santos-Aviles did not receive a bonus or raise, like she had the past two years working for Gonzales. Her quarterly salary remained stagnant at $17,000 until her death.
Gonzales
Gonzales is the Republican representative for Texas’ 23rd district, which covers 29 counties from El Paso to San Antonio. He is seeking reelection this year.
Santos-Aviles’ husband and coworker’s interviews coincided with the first week of early voting in the March 3 Texas primaries, in which Gonzales’ spot is contested. The congressman said Feb. 19 in a post on X that he is being “blackmailed,” and shared an undated email from Aviles’ attorney Robert Barrera requesting a $300,000 settlement from Gonzales in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement.
Aviles has also distributed text messages to news outlets that Gonzales allegedly sent to Santos-Aviles, in which he requests “sexy” pictures, and Santos-Aviles says he is going “too far, boss.”
Gonzales is married with six children. On Feb. 24, he said he will not step down from the congressional race despite far-right lawmakers’ calls for his resignation. His office has not responded to requests for comment from the Uvalde Leader-News since Santos-Aviles’ death, including general inquiries about the future of her office in Uvalde and questions about her pay.
Police report
After Santos-Aviles’ husband and coworker spoke with the press about the alleged affair, the city of Uvalde released police reports documenting the night of her suicide and following investigation.
Officers who reviewed security footage from Santos-Aviles’ home describe her pouring gasoline on herself around 9:30 p.m. Sept. 13 and using a lighter twice to ignite it before attempting to extinguish the flames by rolling on the ground and pouring water on herself. Santos-Aviles called 911 herself, and told dispatchers “I don’t wanna die.” She was conscious when officers arrived and told them she set herself on fire after she discovered her husband was “having an affair with her best friend.”
Her husband and acquaintances in interviews with law enforcement after her death described her as having a history of self harm threats and substance abuse. His friends said she sent them videos of herself doused in gasoline the night she died, but she “did not follow through with [previous threats] so they did not believe she would harm herself.”
Police officers, after viewing sealed autopsy records, wrote that Santos-Aviles was not pregnant at the time of her death as Gonzales critics have suggested. She succumbed to the burn wounds covering her body hours after she was transported to San Antonio for medical treatment.
When the Leader-News first requested police reports and 911 call audio related to Santos-Aviles on Sept. 17, the city requested a ruling from the Texas Attorney General to keep them sealed. Officials first cited an ongoing investigation as their reasoning, then argued the information was too embarrassing to release. The city has not released 911 call audio and has not provided a determination from the attorney general that states it is legal for them to withhold it.
UPD records do not mention Gonzales by name, but do refer to a “supposed affair.” Gonzales has publicly called for the police reports to be released, while Santos-Aviles’ husband said he wanted them withheld for the sake of the couple’s young son.
Data
The Uvalde Leader-News sourced this salary data from quarterly statements of disbursement published by the U.S. House of Representatives, available online at www.house.gov/the-house-explained/open-government/statement-of-disbursements/archive .
We calculated base salary by multiplying quarterly salaries by four, and found total income by adding any additional payments reported to staff members that year. Some of those payments are listed as “personnel compensation,” some are listed as “other compensation,” and others appear in the same line item as the staff member’s salary. We determined that one-time payments of several thousand dollars distributed in either the last or first quarter of the year, which are included in the salary line item, were likely holiday bonuses as multiple staff members received them. We did not include auto mileage or travel reimbursements in our calculations.
Hali Mecklin (hmecklin@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335) is a Report for America corps member covering education and crime for the Leader-News. Your generosity helps Hali continue telling the stories that affect your neighbors, schools, and community. Please consider a tax-deductible donation today at app.ribbon.giving/links/JWbuGP
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