The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

House Republicans lurch once again toward demographic homogeneity

Analysis by
National columnist
August 2, 2019 at 12:54 p.m. EDT
Rep. Will Hurd (R) of the 23rd Congressional District of Texas. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) will not seek reelection to the House next year. He becomes the eighth House Republican in this Congress to decide to move on without seeking higher office.

But Hurd’s retirement is more significant than possibly being at the front end of a trend. His district, Texas’s 23rd, is the only one the border with Mexico that’s still controlled by the Republican Party. That might change: In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton won the district by a narrow margin.