GOP Texas Rep. Will Hurd will Not Seek Reelection

Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, announced Thursday that he will not seek reelection.

“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,” he tweeted Thursday.

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. https://t.co/GeZ4Hh264f

— Rep. Will Hurd (@HurdOnTheHill) August 2, 2019

Hurd, a three-term congressman who represents a district along Texas’ border with Mexico, was first elected to Congress in 2014, beating his Democrat rival Pete Gallego by 2 percentage points. In 2018, he won reelection by less than 1 percentage point against Democrat challenger Gina Ortiz Jones by 926 votes. Jones is running for Hurd’s seat in this election cycle.

The Texas lawmaker, a former CIA undercover officer, is the eighth Republican congressman to retire from the House ahead of the 2020 election.