San Antonio Congressman Will Hurd won’t seek reelection in one of country’s most competitive districts

WASHINGTON, DC - January 19, 2017 - Rep. Will Hurd, R-TX, in the rotunda of the Cannon Building where his office is. WASHINGTON, DC - January 19, 2017 - Rep. Will Hurd, R-TX, in the rotunda of the Cannon Building where his office is. Photo: Susan Biddle Photo: Susan Biddle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close San Antonio Congressman Will Hurd won’t seek reelection in one of country’s most competitive districts 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

After three terms in Congress, Will Hurd announced Thursday he will not seek reelection in 2020, becoming the third Texas Republican to announce his exit in just a week.

The 41-year-old former CIA officer from Helotes and frequent critic of President Donald Trump said in a statement on his congressional website that one of his missions in office was to bring his knowledge and experience from the intelligence community to Washington, D.C.

“After reflecting on how best to help our country address these challenges, I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security,” Hurd said.

Hurd’s decision not to seek reelection leaves one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country with no incumbent heading into the 2020 elections. The only black Republican in the House, Hurd is serving his third term after defeating Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones last fall in a race that dragged on for weeks after Election Day. It was ultimately decided by less than 1,000 votes.

On ExpressNews.com: Closely-contested race in District 23 reaches its end; Hurd secures third term as Ortiz Jones concedes

Jones had already launched a fresh bid for the seat in 2020, which was expected to set up a marquee rematch with Hurd.

“After years of serving our country, first in the CIA and then in Congress, I respect Congressman Hurd’s decision to serve in a new capacity,” Jones said in a statement. “From San Antonio to Socorro and everywhere in between, Texans are ready for new leadership in Washington and I’m ready to serve.”

Jones is not the only Democrat seeking the nomination. San Antonio Democrat Liz Wahl, 33, a former news anchor for a Russian-backed cable network, has also filed to run for the seat.

The 23rd Congressional District stretches from San Antonio to the outskirts of El Paso and includes more than 800 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Hurd is the only Republican in Congress who represents a district along the southern border with Mexico.

Political experts say without Hurd seeking re-election, Democrats will be favored to flip the key congressional district in 2020.

Democrats already vowed to make defeating Hurd one of their top priorities. Now with no incumbent, observers anticipate Democrats will pour even more resources into the race.

Kyle Kondik, a congressional elections expert at the University of Virginia, said he now projects the district as leaning Democratic instead of a pure toss-up seat as it would be if Hurd were seeking re-election. Hurd is one of just three Republicans left in Congress representing a district that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Matt Mackowiak, a GOP strategist who ran a campaign in a state Senate district last year that includes much of the same territory, said Hurd’s retirement could not come at a worse time for the party.

“He is uniquely suited to be a Republican that can win in this district,” Mackowiak said. “Hurd not running for reelection makes it a hell of a lot harder for a Republican to win the seat.”

The intense nature of his three successful campaigns — with victory margins of 1.3, 2.1 and .44 percentage points, respectively — likely weighed on his decision, according to Mackowiak.

“I don’t think your average member of Congress has the first idea how difficult this district is to hold, how much work it is, and how large it is,” he said. “Basically, Will Hurd has been running a marathon like a sprint for seven years. It just takes a lot out of you. It’s like dog years. He hasn’t been in Congress for six years, he’s been in Congress for 18 years.”

Hurd leaves behind a legacy of one of the most recognized bipartisan members of Congress. Of the 13 bills and resolutions he sponsored in the House in 2017 and 2018, 10 had Democratic co-sponsors. In 2017, Hurd and then-U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso Democrat, made national headlines when they live-streamed their road trip from Texas back to D.C. in a show of bipartisanship.

Having to walk a tightrope of a Democratic-leaning district in an era of Donald Trump as president was a challenge, but one that Hurd, a John Marshall High School graduate, said put him in tune with people of all walks of life.

“This understanding has allowed me to win elections many people thought I couldn’t, especially when the political environment was overwhelmingly against my party,” Hurd said.

Along with Hurd’s exit, U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, announced his retirement last week and U.S. Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Midland, announced his intentions earlier this week. A fourth Republican, John Ratcliffe of Collin County, has been appointed by Trump to be the director of national intelligence. If his nomination is confirmed, he would be the fourth of Texas’ 36 members of Congress — all Republicans — to leave the House.

It’s all part of a surge of retirements nationwide for Republicans in Congress. Eleven members of Congress have announced they won’t seek reelection with nine being Republicans.

Those retirements are in addition to 10 other members of Congress from Texas that either lost their reelections or did not seek another term in Congress in 2018.

Hurd used his position as a member of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee to stress the dangers Russia posed to the U.S. and its elections systems, even as Trump tried to downplay their interference.

“Russia will stop at nothing to erode trust in our democratic institutions,” Hurd said in 2018 after the intelligence community spelled out how Russia used bots to try to sow discontent among Americans.

Hurd was even more pointed after Trump appeared too cozy with Russian leader Vladimir Putin last summer.

“I’ve seen Russian intelligence manipulate many people over my professional career and I never would have thought that the U.S. President would become one of the ones getting played by old KGB hands,” Hurd said on social media.

Despite being in Congress for just two full terms, Hurd has seen two of his bills signed into law. Both bills aimed at improving cybersecurity and technology in the Department of Homeland Security were signed by President Trump last year.

“When I took the oath of office after joining the CIA, I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all its enemies,” Hurd said. “I took the same oath on my first day in Congress. This oath doesn’t have a statute of limitations. I will keep fighting to ensure the country I love excels during what will be a time of unprecedented technological change.”

Dylan McGuiness covers San Antonio city government and politics. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness