After blizzard cancelled flights, Texas reps take 'bipartisan road trip' to D.C.

Two Texas representatives set out on a Ôbipartisan roadtrip town hallÕ while driving from San Antonio to Washington, D.C., after a blizzard affected travel plans: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso (on the right), trades off driving duty with Rep. Will Hurd, a Republican who represents Southwest Texas, including parts of San Antonio. less Two Texas representatives set out on a Ôbipartisan roadtrip town hallÕ while driving from San Antonio to Washington, D.C., after a blizzard affected travel plans: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso ... more Photo: Congressman Beto O'Rourke Via FB Photo: Congressman Beto O'Rourke Via FB Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close After blizzard cancelled flights, Texas reps take 'bipartisan road trip' to D.C. 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

After an East Coast blizzard affected flights to Washington, D.C., two of Texas' congressional representatives agreed to rent a car early Tuesday and make the 24-hour drive together, debating everything from directions and meals to immigration and Obamacare.

What makes the journey unusual -- aside from the livestream that blends navigation, a Willie Nelson sing-along and policy discussions -- is that one representative is a Republican and the other a Democrat.

Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso, is trading off driving duty with Rep. Will Hurd, a Republican who represents Southwest Texas, including parts of San Antonio.

Political scientists rate them both as relatively moderate, such as the GovTrack scores from the past two years that show Hurd as one of the 40 most centrist Republicans and O'Rourke as one of the 60 most moderate Democrats.

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Starting the day off right at Mi Tierra Cafe before hitting the road for work. 24 hrs to DC. Co-pilot @HurdOnTheHill pic.twitter.com/wZHHF2KQXC — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 14, 2017

They expressed differing views on education -- Hurd praised charter schools while O'Rourke emphasized traditional public schools -- and also their differing road-trip styles. Hurd wanted more pit stops than the "taskmaster" O'Rourke wanted.

"We're trying to break through partisan gridlock and get stuck in actual gridlock," Hurd joked.

The two South Texas representatives said they share the view that President Donald Trump's border wall is not an effective or efficient way to improve border security.

They started early Tuesday morning in San Antonio, renting a Chevy Impala sedan and grabbing breakfast at Mi Tierra Cafe. They were together in San Antonio after they spent Monday visiting Veterans Affairs facilities.

They reached the Waco area shortly after 11 a.m. and asked for local lunch suggestions; they considered viewers' recommendations of the Czech Stop kolache shop in West, Texas, before settling on a Whataburger drive-thru.

As they gave phone interviews to newspaper reporters from San Antonio and El Paso, Hurd gestured to passing truckers and got one to honk.

Nearly 40,000 viewers had tuned in for at least part of the broadcasts by 1 p.m., according to Facebook. A post had attracted more than 1,000 comments ranging from policy questions to name suggestions for the representatives' mini-pinata mascot. However, the count of current viewers rarely broke 250, suggesting that most people watched only short portions.

The pair said they hope to reach D.C. by Wednesday evening for the week's first votes.

Both Texans joined Congress only recently.

O'Rourke won his seat in 2012 after beating the incumbent, Silvestre Reyes, in the Democratic primary. He has been re-elected twice since then with comfortable margins, according to Ballotpedia. He did not face a Republican challenger last year.

In 2014 Hurd beat Pete Gallego, the incumbent Democrat and a friend of O'Rourke. Hurd defended the seat from Gallego in last year's election, winning by just over 1 percentage point.

They are streaming the journey on Facebook Live and taking questions here: https://www.facebook.com/BetoORourkeTX16/.

>>>Scroll through the gallery to see where Texas congressmen travel the most