Don’t Mess With Texas — Unless You’re a Texas Politician Messing Around
Texas has long styled itself as a place of straight-talking, straight-shooting values. But the state’s political class has, with remarkable consistency, produced a parade of elected officials whose private conduct has made a mockery of that image. The resignation of Rep. Tony Gonzales this week is only the latest chapter in a long and sordid story.
Gonzales, a Republican representing San Antonio, announced on Monday that he would resign from the U.S. House, ending a five-year congressional career months after he revealed he had an affair with an aide who later died by suicide.
The scandal had been building for months. Axios obtained copies of text messages in which Gonzales asked the staffer for a “sexy pic,” and she replied, “this is too far tony.” A second former female staffer also reportedly accused Gonzales of sending repeated sexually explicit messages and pressuring her for nude photos during his 2020 campaign. Under House ethics rules, lawmakers may not engage in a sexual relationship with any employee of the House under their supervision. Facing a bipartisan push for expulsion and a formal House Ethics Committee investigation, Gonzales ultimately had no political runway left.
The Gonzales scandal echoes, almost beat for beat, the downfall of another Texas congressman just eight years earlier.
Rep. Blake Farenthold, a Republican from Corpus Christi, resigned in April 2018 after reports surfaced that he had used $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by a former staffer. Lauren Greene, his former communications director, had sued him for gender discrimination, sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment, and wrongful termination — alleging that Farenthold had discussed his “sexual fantasies” about her and made explicit comments at staff meetings. Adding insult to injury, Farenthold later made clear he had no intention of repaying the $84,000 to the U.S. Treasury, saying he had been advised by attorneys not to do so.
While congressional scandals draw national attention, no figure has more thoroughly embodied Texas’s collision of private hypocrisy and public moralizing than Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton built a political career on family values conservatism, opposing LGBTQ rights and defending traditional marriage — while behind the scenes, multiple extramarital affairs and a divorce filing citing adultery revealed a profound gap between public persona and private conduct.
The first affair became public during Paxton’s dramatic 2023 impeachment proceedings. Impeachment claims focused partly on an alleged extramarital affair Paxton had with a former Senate aide, with investigators noting that the affair ended briefly in 2019 after his wife Angela learned of it, then reportedly resumed in 2020. The Texas House impeached Paxton, but the more conservative Senate acquitted him — with his wife Angela sitting through the entire trial, unable to cast a vote on her own husband’s fate.
The story didn’t end there. In September 2025, Paxton was accused of a second extramarital affair — this time with a 57-year-old mother of seven described as a Christian influencer, whom he allegedly met at the 2024 Kentucky Derby. Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July 2025, alleging adultery and noting that the couple had stopped living together around June 2024. In her filing, she cited “biblical grounds” and “recent discoveries.” The divorce proceedings became their own political battlefield, as Paxton — actively campaigning to unseat Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary — initially sought to seal the records from public view. Media organizations including the Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and the Texas Newsroom sued to keep them public, and in December 2025, a judge released approximately 70 documents totaling around 300 pages.
The pattern says something about the peculiar pressures of Texas political culture, where candidates routinely campaign on traditional Christian values while navigating lives that bear little resemblance to those professed beliefs. Each of these men — Gonzales, Farenthold, Paxton — positioned themselves as defenders of faith and family while their private conduct told a different story. And in each case, it was ultimately the contradiction between the public pose and the private reality that proved politically fatal.
Texas may be big enough for many things. Apparently, hypocrisy has its limits.
If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office plans to investigate the city of Austin after the police department changed its general orders to address administrative warrants from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The state is claiming Austin violated Texas Senate Bill 4, better known as the law that bans sanctuary cities in the Lone Star State.
BREAKING: Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, is planning to investigate Austin Police's new ICE warrant policies.
— Vinny Martorano (@VinnyMartorano) April 14, 2026
In a newsflash sent to Mayor Kirk Watson, and Austin City Council members, the city's statement says "We believe our general orders are consistent with SB4 and will… pic.twitter.com/ETGqt81pC3
Austin’s city government is moving aggressively to address its homelessness crisis with a sweeping new enforcement plan set to launch next month. Austin city officials are preparing to significantly expand sweeps of homeless camps across the city, with a draft plan calling for six dedicated cleanup teams to operate Monday through Friday, each pairing police officers with cleanup crews.
A new restaurant will soon open downtown on 6th & Neches Streets, part of Steam Reality‘s massive redevelopment plan for the entertainment district, one of 34 buildings that the developer hopes will revitalize 6th Street. (KXAN-TV)
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, in his latest Watson Wire, addresses the importance of the city’s downtown district.
Meanwhile, Watson expressed concern Monday about two items on the Austin Transit Partnership Board agenda later this week, one to negotiate an office lease in a downtown office building for up to $32 million for roughly 8 years and another to furnish the space for $15 million. (Yahoo! News)
PROJECT CONNECT NEWS: Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says he opposes an Austin Transit Partnership plan to lease prime office space at 100 Congress Ave. for $4.27 million/year ($32 million total for 7.5 years).
— Nathan Bernier (@KUTnathan) April 13, 2026
Watson sits on the ATP board.
Video of 100 Congress by Carr Properties: pic.twitter.com/Bdnegltj4Z
Water crews are still working to patch a hole in Downtown Austin, more than 24 hours after the break. It’s at Red River Street.
A citywide lighting plan to reduce roadway fatalities and improve safety on urban trails and parks in in the works.
Some Austin City Council members want to make it easier for people to report crimes without fear of arrest or deportation.
APD’s North Metro Tactical Unit conducted a proactive “shoplifting blitz” operation in the Mueller area that resulted in several arrests.
Kreli Haynes is expected to be sentenced this morning in connection to the 2023 Williamson County fentanyl death of 16-year-old Zarek McMeekin.
An accountant for a private school in Austin has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after stealing more than $1 million from the school where she worked.
Williamson County officials have arrested five individuals in connection with an organized livestock theft operation.
PODCAST
State lawmakers held a hearing last week to examine the rise and impact of data centers in Texas, looking at both the economic benefits and the toll on critical resources like energy and water. Local tech reporter Omar Galaga is joining host Nikki DaVaughn and newsletter editor Kelsey Bradshaw to talk about the key takeaways from this hearing, plus Friday’s deeadly shooting at an East Austin bar and how residents are thinking about the safety of the Govalle neighborhood now. City Cast Austin listeners also share their ideas on the renaming of Cesar Chavez Street, in light of last month’s sexual assault allegations against the labor leader.
Recent rainfall in Central Texas has raised hopes in Pflugerville that Lake Pflugerville could soon rebound enough to reopen as the city works through an ongoing drought and strict water restrictions.
Two wildfires of note are currently burning in Texas. One is in Donley County southeast of Amarillo and the other is in Presidio County in South Texas on the border.
Tesla’s Giga Texas water use jumped more than 200 million gallons — by about 60% — in two years, as massive chip plant proposal raises concerns about Austin’s strained supply. (Texas Tribune)
Charlie Flatten, General Manager of Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, discusses the future of water in Central Texas.
WEATHER
MONDAY’S HIGH / LOW TEMPERATURES
AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
The family of a missing eight-year-old girl is seeking a court order to prevent Camp Mystic from reopening for the summer following a devastating flood that killed 27 people and revealed significant gaps in the facility’s emergency preparedness.
The camp’s director testified Monday he did not see official warnings issued the day before the storm hit and that staff had no meetings about the pending danger.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into activewear retailer Lululemon over the potential presence of toxic “forever chemicals” in its products.
🚨BREAKING: I launched an investigation into Lululemon over the potential presence of toxic "forever chemicals" in activewear. pic.twitter.com/pAu273PHFv
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) April 13, 2026
The federal government is issuing subpoenas for at least three Texas counties, trying to get detailed information about some voters.
Scandal and declining membership have beset the National Rifle Association in recent years, but the group is still expecting 70,000 gun owners to descend on Houston starting Thursday for its annual convention. Justin Davis, Director of Public Affairs for the NRA, sat down with Texas Take Podcast host Jeremy Wallace to discuss how the organization is trying to win back members and what it’s done to better watch how money is spent. For just the second time since 2015, President Donald Trump will be a no-show at the event. Davis also defends the NRA’s opposition to red flag laws and the gun safety measures passed in Congress after the Uvalde school shooting in 2022.
It’s legal again for Texas businesses to sell smokable forms of hemp. New state rules that went into effect in March had effectively outlawed these sales, while raising fees on the businesses who carry them.
(Episode from April 13, 2026)
A 20-year-old from the Houston suburbs is facing multiple charges following allegations that he attempted to kill the CEO of OpenAI with a Molotov cocktail.
Two people were critically injured after a small plane crashed near Corpus Christi’s airport on approach, sparking a fire and shutting down nearby railroad tracks.
SPORTS
MLB: Make it 8.
The Astros (8) and Mets (6) have the longest losing streaks in baseball
— SleeperMLB (@SleeperMLB) April 14, 2026
Both teams are still only 3.5 games or less back in their divisions pic.twitter.com/2Bc5v6He1y
Josh Naylor hit his first two homers of the season and drove in five runs, George Kirby allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings, and the Seattle Mariners completed a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros with a 6-2 win on Monday. Houston has lost eight straight. (Associated Press)
The Houston Astros plummet to MLB’s basement with an eight-game losing streak—can they recover before crisis leads to drastic changes?
Nathan Eovaldi allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings, Jake Burger homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Texas Rangers snapped the Athletics’ five-game winning streak with an 8-1 victory Monday night.
Eovaldi (2-2), who entered with a 7.98 ERA through his first three starts, gave up three singles, walked two and struck out seven. He threw 53 of his 84 pitches for strikes in the opener of a four-game series. (Associated Press)
ON THE SCHEDULE
AL WEST STANDINGS
COLLEGE BASEBALL: Non-conference action tonight for the Texas Longhorns.
NHL: Only one game left in the regular season for the Dallas Stars and it looks like they are ready.
Mavrik Bourque had his first NHL hat trick and added an assist as the Dallas Stars rallied from a pair of deficits and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 on Monday night. (Associated Press)
Dallas’ final regular season game is Thursday in Buffalo. The first round of the NHL Playoffs begin Saturday. The Stars will face Minnesota in a best-of-seven.
Researchers are getting creative in their methods to study and protect one of the most mysterious fish in Texas waters–the American Eel. Three generations of dove hunters get together at Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area to share good times, make memories and bag some birds. Farm-raised oysters from the Texas Gulf Coast are making a splash in the state’s culinary scene.
The latest episode of Texas Parks & Wildlife.
