'ISIS Bride' Affair: Texas Rep. Van Taylor Drops Re-Election Bid

PLANO, TX — U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, a Republican from Plano, is dropping his bid for re-election after admitting he had an extramarital affair, reportedly with the widow of an American-born ISIS recruiter.

Taylor, who represents Texas's 3rd District, announced his decision late Tuesday in an email to supporters first obtained by the Dallas Morning News.

Tania Joya is the widow of John Georgelas, a Plano native who converted to Islam and became a recruiter for ISIS, according to The Associated Press. In 2013, he took her and their three children to northern Syria where, as Yahya Abu Hassan, he became the most important American fighting for ISIS. He was killed in 2017.

Joya fled with the couple's four children shortly after they arrived in Syria, first going to Turkey before moving back to Plano.

After claiming to have had an affair with Taylor in interviews with several right-wing websites in the days before Tuesday's Republican primary, Joya told the Morning News on Monday night the two met through her work as an ex-jihadist attempting to reprogram extremists.

Taylor, who has a wife and three children, and Joya were involved in an affair from October 2020 to June 2021, Taylor told the Morning News.

Taylor's announcement ending his re-election bid came shortly after former Collin County Judge Keith Self forced a runoff with Taylor in the primary. Taylor has received criticism from many in the GOP for voting to certify the 2020 presidential election results and supporting a House select committee investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Taylor tallied 48.7 percent of the vote in the primary, falling 823 votes short of what he needed to avoid a runoff with 63,981 ballots cast, while Self earned 26.5 percent of the vote.

Taylor's apology and dropout announcement didn't mention Joya by name.

"About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world," Taylor said in the statement. "I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life."

Joya first contacted Suzanne Harp, another candidate in the Republican primary for Texas's 3rd District, about her affair with Taylor, thinking she would convince Taylor to drop out of the race. Harp instead sent a campaign supporter to interview Joya, and then sent the interviews to several websites, according to the Morning News report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.