WASHINGTON - Jay Hulings, one of four Democrats seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, next year, has won endorsements from alliances totaling some 80 U.S. House Democrats.

The New Democratic Coalition and the Blue Dog Coalition, both of which draw self-described moderate and conservative Democrats to their ranks, announced a series of endorsements of candidates aiming to challenge incumbent Republicans in 2018.

Hulings was among 12 challengers endorsed Monday by NewDemPAC, the funding arm of the New Democratic Coalition. Those receiving the PAC’s blessing included Jana Lynne Sanchez, who is campaigning to challenge veteran GOP Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington.

U.S. Rep. Scott Peters of California, who heads the PAC, said it supports candidates “who reject partisan gridlock to work together to build an economy that leaves no American behind.”

The New Democratic group claims 61 members, among them Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

The Blue Dog Coalition, an alliance that has seen its ranks thinned over the years due to losses and redistricting, included Hulings on a list of eight candidates the group describes as its first wave of endorsements.

Hulings, 42, of San Antonio resigned last month as an assistant U.S. attorney to make the race against Hurd. He said in a release that he is “thrilled” at the endorsements and that “the status quo is no longer acceptable in Washington.”

Hurd is in his second term in the sprawling 23rd District, which stretches from Bexar County to the eastern edge of El Paso. Democrats nationally are expected to once again invest heavily in the district, won in 2016 by presidential Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Rick Trevino, another Democrat seeking to challenge Hurd, said he expects to win endorsements — but perhaps not from Washington politicians. Trevino, 32, resigned last month as a history and geography teacher at Sam Houston High School in San Antonio.

“I find it interesting that people running in District 23 in Texas are courting Washington,” he said. “Washington has gotten it wrong time and time again.”

Gina Ortiz Jones, a San Antonian and former Air Force intelligence officer who also is campaigning to challenge Hurd, said she is seeking endorsements from several U.S. House members.

Jones, 36, raised by a single mother who arrived in the United States from the Philippines, noted that she won the endorsement of the Asian American Action Fund, a Democratic-aligned organization.

blambrecht@express-news.net