Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) announced on March 5, 2026, that he will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.

Gonzales initially sought re-election in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. Gonzales and Brandon Herrera (R) advanced to a May 26, 2026, runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026. In the Republican primary, Herrera received 43.3% of the vote, and Gonzales received 41.7%.

In a statement announcing his retirement, Gonzales said, “After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I’ve always had to my district. Through the rest of my term, I will continue fighting for my constituents, for whom I am eternally grateful.”

On March 4, 2026, the U.S. House Ethics Committee announced that they opened an investigation into whether Gonzales “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.” That same day, Gonzales admitted during an interview that he had a relationship with a former member of his staff. 

On March 5, 2026, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) released a statement asking Gonzales to suspend his campaign: “Congressman Gonzales has said he will fully cooperate with the [U.S. House Ethics Committee] investigation. We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues. In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”

In 2020, Gonzales ran for his first term in the U.S. House in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, after then-incumbent Rep. Will Hurd (R) announced he would not seek re-election. He defeated Gina Ortiz Jones (D) in the general election 51% to 47%. Gonzales won re-election in 2022 by 17 percentage points and in 2024 by 25 percentage points.

As of March 3, 2026, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the district as Solid Republican. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.

As of March 5, 2026, Gonzales is one of 64 members of the U.S. Congress — 10 U.S. Senate members and 54 U.S. House members — who have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026. 

Of the 54 U.S. House incumbents who are not seeking re-election:

• Twenty-seven — 13 Democrats and 14 Republicans — are retiring from public office.
• Fifteen — seven Democrats and eight Republicans — are running for the U.S. Senate.
• Eleven — one Democrat and 10 Republicans — are running for governor.
• One Republican is running for state attorney general.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 42 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 45 in 2022, 34 in 2020, and 46 in 2018. 

Between January 2011 and March 2026, Ballotpedia tracked 354 announcements by U.S. House members that they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 61. The fewest announcements took place in June at 15.