By Barbara Sprunt Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Feb. 10 in Washington, D.C. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption One day after Rep. Tony Gonzales was forced into a May runoff in the Republican primary in his district, the House Ethics Committee announced it's launching a formal investigation into the Texas Republican. The panel voted to establish a subcommittee to probe allegations that Gonzales "engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office and/or discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges." This comes after Gonzales faced increasing pressure from members in his party to resign or drop out of his race after explicit text messages from him to his then-employee Regina Santos-Aviles were published in The San Antonio Express-News. NPR has not independently verified these text messages. Santos-Aviles died by suicide last September. Gonzales has previously denied wrongdoing.…