With overwhelming GOP majorities in the state legislature and congressional delegation, Texas Republicans have no shortage of up-and-coming political talent.<\/p>\n
But as longtime leaders keep seeking reelection<\/a> to top posts, one ambitious newcomer says the next generation is going to have to stop waiting its turn.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Houston), 44, had hoped to succeed Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who\u2019s held one of the state\u2019s two U.S. Senate seats since 2002 and at one point appeared headed toward retirement this election cycle.<\/p>\n Instead Cornyn started rallying for a fifth six-year term to stop embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton from taking his place \u2014 causing national party operatives<\/a> to urge Hunt against jumping into an expensive three-way primary.<\/p>\n Rather than waiting it out in his safe red congressional district, however, Hunt joined the race anyway, and said he hopes other young candidates will follow his lead.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is time for this next generation \u2014 people in their 30s, 40s, 50s \u2014 to realize that we need some turnover,\u201d Hunt said in a recent interview. \u201cPeople in this country don\u2019t give their best years to this cause, and I\u2019ve realized that it\u2019s time for us to do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n Most polls of the race\u00a0show Hunt trailing<\/a>\u00a0his more well-known opponents, but he says his internal numbers show he could easily best a Democrat in a head-to-head general election. The March 3 primary is almost certain to go to a runoff between the top two vote-takers.<\/p>\n Hunt sat down with the San Antonio Report to talk about bucking party leaders, helping President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda in Washington and what Republicans need to do to keep Texas red.<\/p>\n Texas Republicans have long had big hopes for your future. Some even say they created a congressional district<\/a> specifically for you during the 2021 redistricting process. But in this U.S. Senate race, national party leaders asked you not to run, suggesting that an expensive, three-way race would complicate their efforts to keep the seat out of Democrats\u2019 hands. Tell us why you\u2019re doing it anyway.<\/p>\n One thing I always tell people is that the United States Congress and the United States Senate are not a retirement community. <\/p>\n This race can\u2019t be about a blood feud between two men. It\u2019s got to be about the people of Texas. It\u2019s got to be about border security. It\u2019s got to be about our overall security. It\u2019s got to be about the oil and gas and energy industry that makes this state \u2014 which is the eighth largest economy in the entire world \u2014 run. So proper representation for the industries that are most important [to Texas], and the issues that are most germane to Texans, is why I\u2019m running.<\/p>\n Texas has no shortage of up-and-coming Republican political talent, but not a lot of upward mobility, since longtime incumbents keep running for reelection<\/a> to the state\u2019s highest offices. In fact, Paxton\u2019s move to the U.S. Senate race created the first statewide position without an incumbent on the ballot in more than a decade. Do you think the Republican Party is doing enough to grow its future talent in Texas, or is the next generation of ambitious Republicans going to have to do what you\u2019re doing?<\/p>\n You have to self-select at this point. And by the way, that goes for everyone in this country. A lot of people that have my pedigree and my background don\u2019t get into government, and that\u2019s actually why I\u2019m doing it. This shouldn\u2019t be a default job for people to just get reelected because they can, or because they think this is just a way to sit up in D.C. for the next 20 years to collect a paycheck. I\u2019m somebody that could be doing other things, but I am choosing to do this, and hopefully I can inspire others to do the same.<\/p>\n You first ran for Congress, unsuccessfully, in a left-leaning district against a Democratic incumbent<\/a>. Then the districts were redrawn and you had tough primaries. Most of our statewide officials haven\u2019t faced real competition in a primary or a general election in recent years. How important is it for statewide candidates to be able to talk to all kinds of voters in Texas?<\/p>\n Keep in mind, President Trump just won Texas by 14 points<\/a>, so Texas is pretty red at this point. I would argue Texas is pretty pro-Trump. Maybe there are certain pockets of Texas that are not, but that is why we have a constitutional republic and a democracy here. We get to vote for that, and if you don\u2019t like it, you can vote against it, but the majority wins, and the majority of this state wants to see strong border security. The majority of this state wants to see low regulation for the oil and gas industry so we can prosper and flourish. The majority of this state wants to see free and fair elections. The majority of this state doesn\u2019t want to go to a gas station [where] they\u2019re going to get mugged. And if you stand for those things, then the bulk of the state will vote for you, especially if you\u2019re not scandal-ridden.<\/p>\n Since Trump returned to office, here in San Antonio we hear a lot of concern from our local elected officials<\/a> about federal cuts coming for Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP and other social safety net-type programs. They\u2019re also concerned about losing Army North and Army South<\/a> in the Trump administration\u2019s branch realignment. As a close ally of the president in D.C., how would you frame his first year back in office to San Antonians?<\/p>\n We\u2019re cutting out Social Security for illegal immigrants, that\u2019s a win for us. \u2026 If you\u2019re over 65, nobody\u2019s taking away Social Security. It\u2019s not going to happen. If you are disabled, nobody is taking away your Social Security.<\/p>\n I think reducing government bloat is really important for everybody. We\u2019re running at a $37 trillion deficit. That\u2019s insanity, and we can\u2019t continue to operate like that. I\u2019m one of the few politicians that has three young children, so I\u2019m very concerned about the future of this country. <\/p>\n The greatest existential threat to this country is our national debt. We have to make some very tough decisions. They\u2019re not always going to be popular. People are not going to like them, but I\u2019m a combat veteran. I\u2019m an Apache pilot. I\u2019ve been shot at for a living. So one thing I understand is making tough decisions.<\/p>\n National Democrats are trying to flip a 53-seat Republican majority in the U.S. Senate in 2026 and have their sights set on Texas, mainly because they don\u2019t have many other options \u2014 senators serve staggered six-year terms and\u00a0the GOP incumbents up for reelection<\/a>\u00a0this cycle come from really red states. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, national Republicans are defending a large number of seats up in 2026, and think that spending money to help Cornyn will save them from pouring resources into a general election next November. How do you think about this race, in terms of the impact that an incredibly expensive GOP primary is having on the national political landscape?<\/p>\n The reason why I am running for Senate is to make sure that we have the best candidate for Texas in the general election\u2014 the candidate that is already winning the general election [in polling] against state Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) by 5 percentage points.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important for us to have the right person to keep Texas a red state, because it\u2019s going to be very, very pivotal depending on how other states go throughout the country, especially Maine, North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia. <\/p>\n [National Republicans] cannot afford to continue to spend tens of millions of dollars a month in a Republican primary when we have other states to worry about. That\u2019s why I\u2019m running, so we can stop hemorrhaging money, get a good candidate that can already win, so then we can take care of business in these other states.<\/p>\n National Republicans have been pouring money into GOP Senate primaries for several cycles now to help candidates they believe will be able to keep the seat in six years when they\u2019re up for reelection, particularly in states that are changing. Do you think that you have that kind of broad appeal, if this state\u2019s politics look different in six years?<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I\u2019m perfect for the job. I\u2019m like 20 years below the average age in the Senate, which gives a lot of appeal to a lot of people. One in 3 Black men in the state of Texas voted for President Trump. If we could keep those numbers where they\u2019re at, with a candidate like me, well then I think we\u2019ll be good for now and for the next six years.<\/p>\n