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LeftInTX

(34,533 posts)

32. That's sad. I wonder if this was known more than locally? Many will blow it off as "just gossip"

Mon Apr 13, 2026, 09:28 AM

Monday

To "know" is one thing. "Gossip" is another.

The Tony Gonzales thing started after a woman killed herself. It was sort of an "open secret". Gonzales is currently my congressman (although I have never met the guy). I certainly don't run in their circles, but I think it was known in Uvalde Field Office that he was having an affair with Regina and that the affair had destroyed her marriage. There were also rumors that she was five months pregnant and that he wanted her to get an abortion and she had refused. However, the autopsy shows that she wasn't pregnant. So the pregnancy part wasn't true.

The "gossip" about Tony spread fast after Regina died. This happened in Uvalde, which is about 70 miles away. But someone always is always "from there", so the gossip spread locally and on social media. However, the MSM didn't touch it until they couldn't ignore it. They would say, "Some are saying..." and left it at that. His affair with Regina did not become "public" until after the primary. The San Antonio Express-News got the scoop and the texts...

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Sympthsical raging moderate oberle Wednesdays BlueHurricane

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Eric Swalwell and the Death of Accountability [View all] Celerity Monday OP

KNR niyad Monday #1

Tribes protect valuable members. OC375 Monday #2

It's California Bettie Monday #4

Agreed. OC375 Monday #5

Which makes the question posed in the article even more compelling. yardwork Monday #12

If this was known Bettie Monday #3

Yes. "Open Secret?" I certainly had not heard the rumblings but perhaps within the beltway... hlthe2b Monday #6

"So, yeah. It appears the pump was fully primed on Friday within the circles who fully "knew" but amazing to me, did not WhiskeyGrinder Monday #8

I Believe The Term Refers To Those Working With Or For Swalwell, Not "Us". ColoringFool Monday #78

My daughter is a CA Dem delegate and a caucus chair, and she had never heard those rumors. deurbano Monday #93

I concur. In this world there are "upstanders" snd Ninga Monday #104

I have never come across any decent humans who are cheaters jfz9580m Monday #124

Same here.... I guess 'open secret' meant within the House of Reps ONLY--- Jack Valentino Monday #145

Exactly WSHazel Monday #7

One of the reasons I didn't quite believe it at first Bettie Monday #9

Madoff is the epitome of this behavior WSHazel Monday #59

Broken stair analogy, plus organizations like to hold on to high performers, even when they're terrible people. WhiskeyGrinder Monday #10

And the biggest missing stair in our politics happens to be President! (n/t) thesquanderer Monday #94

Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a son with the family's housekeeper, kept the child a secret while he was sop Monday #11

The sad fact is that a lot of men get away with it. yardwork Monday #16

Thank you jfz9580m Monday #27

Just to be clear, a lot of the "wait and see" was about not SEEING all the facts yet RandomNumbers Monday #28

Wait and see is one thing. yardwork Monday #31

Yes, I agree with you on that point. RandomNumbers Monday #35

It has helped me make a final decision jfz9580m Monday #77

"Immediately blaming every woman in sight is something else." MorbidButterflyTat Monday #123

Nope. I'm not calling out any DUer. yardwork Monday #128

There was someone here yesterday asking what was expected if a drunk woman goes to a man's hotel room EdmondDantes_ Monday #45

Should be asking, why would a responsible man RandomNumbers Monday #67

More than one poster suggested that the bank accounts of the victims needed to be investigated MichMan Monday #68

The question was MorbidButterflyTat Monday #125

That's not the post I was referring to EdmondDantes_ Monday #129

I have seen post, that in my opinion suggest voting for him Lifeafter70 Monday #60

That's what stood out to me jfz9580m Monday #82

It is VERY sad that a Democrat who has been so effective against Trump, Jack Valentino Monday #146

Based on Arnold, obviously he had a good reason to think so. LisaL Monday #62

I had no idea this was an open secret. Disgusting. Passages Monday #13

People thought the party was taking crazy pills Sympthsical Monday #14

I imagine the Republicans were hoping he'd be the nominee. yardwork Monday #17

I still haven't heard a credible explanation from "The timing is suspicious!" crowd Sympthsical Monday #19

There was a spontaneous eruption of that phrase on DU. yardwork Monday #20

Hasn't hurt many of the GOP members samplegirl Monday #15

The death of accountability is a good headline. yardwork Monday #18

The difference between virtue signalling and actual virtue on full display Sympthsical Monday #21

And every other woman in sight was blamed, too. yardwork Monday #23

I think Katie Porter will actually be hurt by this Scrivener7 Monday #25

Absolutely. She's getting the Hillary Clinton Kamala Harris treatment. yardwork Monday #37

There's another element here. She's running against a man people liked a lot who turned out to be a dog. Scrivener7 Monday #44

On the other hand - I suspect many Democratic voters will now see her as more of a sure bet peppertree Monday #54

As a former CA member of the House, she was in karynnj Monday #92

Probably true. Scrivener7 Monday #102

OMG, nobody said anything like that on here. MorbidButterflyTat Monday #135

She clearly is being hit on this karynnj Monday #90

Tribal reaction. Dems are not immune from it. paleotn Monday #49

Exactly! This is not a game, folks. paleotn Monday #43

there's been nothing but accountability from the party and Dem supporters, including Swalwell's bigtree Monday #143

nothing in that article backed up the claim that 'His sexual misconduct was an open secret' bigtree Monday #22

It was very much an open secret Sympthsical Monday #24

That's sad. I wonder if this was known more than locally? Many will blow it off as "just gossip" LeftInTX Monday #32

Unfortunately, it seems to be considered 'acceptable' for men to behave like that RandomNumbers Monday #33

For years. Incredible, one would imagine he was the only politician they could back. Passages Monday #36

Why encourage him to run for governor? MorbidButterflyTat Monday #132

"Everybody just turned a blind eye and went about their lives for years?" Sympthsical Monday #137

Kevin MCarthy on CNN question everything Monday #52

not one of the sources I'd trust for anything bigtree Monday #85

Whatever else is true about how "known" Swalwell's behavior was, My Kevin is not a reliable reporter. deurbano Monday #99

Kevin MCarthy??? MorbidButterflyTat Monday #131

I noticed the word "misconduct" people knew of his "misconduct" and chose to ignore it. But "misconduct" has now Ninga Monday #66

Stop blaming Nancy Pelosi. yardwork Monday #79

Excuse me. There are "upstanders" and "bystanders" Ninga Monday #107

Exactly. No matter their last name or gender. N/T AloeVera Monday #120

"Inappropriate" behaviour by a person in power is grooming. AloeVera Monday #119

Here is a possible explanation karynnj Monday #96

it's not clear anyone knew except the people claiming it was well known bigtree Monday #121

Just because you didn't know... Random Boomer Monday #100

internet gossip bigtree Monday #122

There is this tweet from Dec 2025 LeftInTX Monday #26

great reply Celerity Monday #29

what did he do with that information bigtree Monday #41

The answer is right in the article. Nanjeanne Monday #47

more background as well Celerity Monday #57

He's an interesting read. Did you see this one? Sympthsical Monday #69

I figured as much. Unless Becerra finds rocket fuel and blows up out of his months-long 2 to 5 per cent level, it looks, Celerity Monday #88

I see the problem with Becerra Sympthsical Monday #97

"...what did both of these men do other than this political chit-chat on social media?" WhiskeyGrinder Monday #48

that's still just conjecture bigtree Monday #86

Because the victims had to come forward Sympthsical Monday #51

That's how it was with Tony Gonzales. LeftInTX Monday #70

Yep. Just like Weinstein and Ronan Farrow Sympthsical Monday #81

The comments made by some poster here Lifeafter70 Monday #72

Humans gonna human Sympthsical Monday #84

Threat of lawsuit? RoseTrellis Monday #65

Wow. Passages Monday #42

The Democratic Party doesn't allow this kind of behavor. Escape Monday #30

True. Shades of Gary Hart. peppertree Monday #46

Wait-a-sec mr715 Monday #111

Sure. peppertree Monday #113

I'll have to check out Ms. Kelley's book. mr715 Monday #114

That could have something to do with it peppertree Monday #116

Thanks for the insight mr715 Monday #133

You're very welcome peppertree Monday #140

Well, The Democratic Party Apparently Does So "Allow," Until...., ColoringFool Monday #80

True - but at least they have limits peppertree Monday #105

Sent me to the all knowing internet to find out who Rielle Hunter is... Escape Monday #136

Nobody wants to be the messenger. milestogo Monday #34

That's true... LeftInTX Monday #38

The Gary Hart of our times peppertree Monday #39

My exact thought this morning. paleotn Monday #50

Gary Hart may have been a reckless philanderer, but Jose Garcia Monday #56

There's still issues of consent going after a parade of young women EdmondDantes_ Monday #95

I believe the House introduced a resolution in 2018 prohibiting any sexual contact between a member and staff MichMan Monday #103

Luckily for Lady G, it didn't apply to the Senate peppertree Monday #106

"Accountability" only applies to Democrats. valleyrogue Monday #40

Sad - but true. And you see that in many other democracies. peppertree Monday #108

Gandhi??? LeftInTX Monday #126

So Gandhi was quite the dandy. peppertree Monday #141

Scene from the 1933 movie 42nd Street LeftInTX Monday #144

If party leadership knew about this & didn't discourage him from running for gov, then they're complicit, too. CrispyQ Monday #53

That's the part that got me Tree Lady Monday #74

The weird thing is jfz9580m Monday #55

He is resigning. Accountability is taking place. Martin68 Monday #58

Philandering is one thing but Billsdaughter Monday #61

"Was an open secret for a long time" sunnybrook Monday #63

The open secret appears to have been that he was sleeping around while married. LisaL Monday #64

If higher ups in the party knew, they shouldn't have encouraged him to run for governor. LeftInTX Monday #76

I agree. LisaL Monday #83

I'd like to see those sources too MorbidButterflyTat Monday #130

I think a lot of people just liked that Swalwell that was an attack dog against Trump and didn't care about much else MichMan Monday #71

Too many people repeat everything Trump says and seem to believe it as well Just_Vote_Dem Monday #75

that's not evident in anything bigtree Monday #87

This message was self-deleted by its author MichMan Monday #98

"The rumors that are being discussed as being generally known are of consensual relationships, not sexual assault or WhiskeyGrinder Monday #101

I never understood the Avenatti stanning. He always seemed like a plonker to me. I certianly never got invested in the Celerity Monday #91

DURec leftstreet Monday #73

I'm not a fan of situational ethics. democrank Monday #89

Yes. And a horror I have heard applauded jfz9580m Monday #112

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 Monday #109

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 Monday #110

I mean like, what 50 year old man sends dick pics to his girlfriends? Jersey Devil Monday #115

This is another dispiriting revelation peggysue2 Monday #117

Power does strange things to some people MustLoveBeagles Monday #139

I have counter evidence for the last sentence. My daughter endorsed Swalwell before hearing any rumors, then "quickly deurbano Monday #118

Obviously most of us (in general public) LisaL Monday #127

I certainly did not, even thoI fancy myself to be rather well informed. 3catwoman3 Monday #134

With all due respect Sympthsical Monday #138

As The "Old Folks" Say..........🎶........ ColoringFool Monday #142