Yet another Republican has joined the race for the party's presidential nomination, though former Rep. Will Hurd faces long odds in a crowded field. Hurd, a moderate who has criticized Donald Trump, made the announcement on CBS Mornings Thursday and in a video posted on Twitter. The 45-year-old, a former CIA undercover agent in the Middle East and elsewhere, was elected to the House to represent a Texas border district in 2014 and was at one point the only Black Republican in the House, reports Reuters. He chose not to seek reelection in 2020.
In his campaign announcement, Hurd declared that the "soul of our country is under attack," listing problems including illegal immigration, fentanyl, and inflation, the Guardian reports. "President Biden can't solve these problems—or won't," he said. "And if we nominate a lawless, selfish, failed politician like Donald Trump—who lost the House, the Senate, and the White House—we all know Joe Biden will win again."
Analysts say that while Hurd's moderate policies and history of bipartisanship would make him a strong candidate in a general election, he'll probably struggle to gain traction in the GOP field, in which Trump is polling higher than all his numerous rivals put together. But Matt Terrill at Firehouse Strategies tells NBC News that long-shot candidates like Hurd could have a shot at success if they can build support in states like New Hampshire with early primaries. "It's the voters in these early primary states, the delegates, they're going to be the ones who eventually decide this nomination," he says. (More Election 2024 stories.)
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