A Texas Republican congressman announced he would not seek re-election after a surprise revelation he had an affair with a woman who was previously married to a former Isis commander, The Texas Tribunereported.

       Rep Van Taylor, a Republican from Collin County, announced he had an affair the day after Texas’s primary elections. Mr Taylor had failed to clear the requisite majority vote to avoid a runoff election in his five-way primary. Right before the election, the right-wing news site Breitbart reported that Mr Taylor had paid a woman named Tania Joya $5,000 to keep quiet about an affair he had.

       Ms Joya was previously married to an Isis commander, which earned her the nickname the “Isis bride.” Mr Taylor revealed the rumours were true in an email to supporters.

       “About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world,” he said. “I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters.”

       Republicans in the district had targeted Mr Taylor after he voted to create a commission to investigate the January 6 riot at the US Capitol where supporters of former president Donald Trump raided the building in hopes of overturning the election results.

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       Ms Joya revealed sexually text messages to Breitbart and that Mr Taylor paid her $5,000 to delete messages about the affair. The right-wing site National File published the texts on Sunday.

       Mr Taylor had earned 49 per cent of the vote, with former Collin County Judge Keith Self receiving 27 per cent of the vote and Suzanne Harp earning 21 per cent of the vote.