Texas lawmakers recently introduced their draft proposal for a new congressional map that may pave the way for a third Black Republican to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Lone Star State will add two new congressional seats to its delegation after it reported population growth ahead of the 2020 census, bringing the state’s delegation from 36 to 38 members. The draft proposal — which must still be approved through the legislative process — would create a 37th seat in Austin that would be overwhelmingly Democratic and a 38th seat in Houston that leans Republican.
Although the map has yet to be approved, the race for the new districts has already begun. This week, Republican Wesley Hunt, an Army combat veteran, announced a bid for the party’s nomination in Texas’s 38th District.
Should Hunt be elected to Congress, he would be one of just three Black Republicans in that chamber, joining Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Burgess Owens of Utah, according to the House Press Gallery. Conversely, 55 Black Democrats serve in the current Congress.
Hunt previously ran against Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher in Texas’s 7th Congressional District, losing the race by 3 percentage points. The proposed congressional map would make Fletcher’s Houston-area seat more solidly Democratic.
Hunt received national support in that race, including an endorsement from then-President Donald Trump. In a statement this week announcing his candidacy, Hunt said he will “complete the mission I first embarked on in 2019.”
“The gravity of this election has never been greater, and in the 250 days Joe Biden has been in office, our country has felt the atrocious policies instituted by a Democrat-controlled government that include record-high inflation, a failing economy, a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which claimed the lives of 13 service members, vaccine mandates by executive order, and a preventable surge in illegal immigration across our southern border,” Hunt said.
Hunt’s campaign subsequently announced an endorsement from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and a third-quarter fundraising haul of over $1 million.
In a statement, McCarthy called Hunt “just the type of battle-hardened leader and patriot we need in the halls of Congress.”
Hunt announced his intention to run for Congress before the new seat was proposed by Texas lawmakers.
I am proud to announce that I am running for Congress and I’m asking for your support.
Donate: https://t.co/OysGvu3wpa
Join the Team: https://t.co/mtVIqT4v5U pic.twitter.com/8LsSYSqDTN— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) July 7, 2021
