Will Hurd's Playing to the Center in Texas' Most Competitive Congressional Race. But His Record Tell
Last month, during a BBC interview, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd blasted the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy with such virulence, the interviewer asked the Republican if perhaps he’d thrown in with the wrong party.
It’s easy to see why. In recent media appearances, Hurd’s made great effort to distance himself from a few of the Trump administration’s most controversial issues — namely, the border wall and stripping migrant parents of their children.
But Hurd, who faces a midterm challenge from San Antonio Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, has a record that puts him much closer to the president’s camp than his pronouncements might let on. He’s voted in line with Trump’s position more than 95 percent of the time, according to a tally by the blog FiveThirtyEight.
The Hurd campaign didn’t respond to interview requests. But it’s not hard to theorize why the candidate’s eager to show a moderate public face. He’s defending the state’s most competitive congressional seat, the Texas 23rd District, which has flipped like a light switch in recent years. The district narrowly went to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and November’s contest looms as trends favor both Democratic and female candidates.
https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2018/07/18/will-hurds-playing-to-the-center-in-texas-most-competitive-congressional-race-but-his-record-tells-another-story