Will Hurd
| William Ballard "Will" Hurd | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Pete Gallego |
|---|---|
| Born | August 19, 1977 San Antonio, Texas |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Single |
| Alma mater | John Marshall High School |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
William Ballard Hurd, known as Will Hurd (born August 19, 1977), is a Moderate Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Texas's sprawling 23rd congression district, which stretches from western San Antonio to the eastern side of El Paso. Now in his second term, Hurd faces an intra--party challenge in the March 6, 2018, primary from the more conservative Alma Arredondo-Lynch, a dentist who practices in Uvalde west of San Antonio.
A son of Robert and Mary Alice Hurd, he graduated in 1995 from John Marshall High School in the San Antonio suburb of Leon Valley. He then attended Texas A&M University in College Station (Class of 2000), at which he majored in computer science and minored in international relations. He was also the TAMU student body president in 1999. Before his election to Congress, Hurd was employed for nine years by the [[Central Intelligence Agency in [[Washington, D.C., and served as an operations officer in Aghanistan, India, and Pakistan.
Hurd won his seat in 2014 by unseating the one-term Democrat Pete Gallego of Alpine in Brewster County. Hurd held on in a rematch against Gallego in 2016. He is an intra-party critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, and he opposed the candidacy of Judge Roy Moore in the special election in Alabama in 2017 to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by now Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He did support the tax cuts enacted in December 2017, and he is nominally pro-life. He has called for greater bipartisan cooperation between the two parties in Congress and has made a point to be in contact with Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, the Democrat expected to challenge the second-term reelection bid of Senator Ted Cruz in the November 6 general election, Hurd and O'Rourke attracted attention in 2017 when they drove together from Texas to Washington, D.C., for the resumption of House business after a recess.
Hurd first ran for the U.S. House in the Republican primary in 2010 but lost the nomination to Francisco Canseco, a native of Laredo who practices law and attends to his business interests in San Antonio. After one term, Canseco was unseated in 2012 by Pete Gallego. In 2018, Canseco is one of eighteen primary candidates in Texas' 21st congressional district being vacated in 2019 by Lamar Smith, also of San Antonio. His opponents include former Bexar County Republican Chairman Robert Stovall, state Representative Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs, and Chip Roy, a former aide to Senator Cruz who carries Cruz's endorsement in the primary.
The San Antonio Express News endorsed Hurd in the re-nomination fight against Arredondo-Lynch:
Hurd, a former CIA operative, is a leading voice on national security, speaking with conviction and nuance that puts his district first. He has opposed a border wall and proposed legislation to provide legal residency to 'Dreamers', add 165 immigration judges, and boost border security. That legislation has gained widespread bipartisan support.
What makes Hurd unique, though, is his ability to keep his distance from extremes while maintaining his conservative credentials. He did not endorse President Donald Trump and broke with the administration, on the wall and health care, for example. But he also championed tax cuts. In other words, he is conservative and genuinely and frequently aligns with Republican interests, but he is also a model for bipartisan compromise and governance.[1]
The winner of the Republican Hpuse primary faces the Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, a former intelligence with the United States Air Force , who also carries the backing of The Express News.[1]
Hurd and Mia Love, another Moderate Republican, who represents Utah's 4th congressional district, are the only two African Americans serving in the U.S. House.