Hours after a draft of that map was unveiled in September, Republican Wesley Hunt said he would run in the new district. Hunt, 40, who ran for the 7th congressional district in 2020 and lost to Fletcher by 10,000 votes, is considered a rising star in the Texas GOP. He’s a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters in Iraq and spent 20 years in the military, later earning three master’s degrees from Cornell. He has been endorsed by both Sen. Ted Cruz and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and has a formidable campaign war chest, with $1.5 million available in January.

While the district is set up for Hunt to win, his campaign so far has shown he’s not an establishment hack. He is one of the most viable and qualified candidates in a crowded Republican primary field.

While many primary candidates in this district are steeped in conspiracy theories and fear, particularly regarding election integrity and the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, Hunt focused on issues traditionally conservative, namely border security, control of the federal government. spending and financing flood infrastructure projects.

Hunt’s approach to energy policy — Houston’s energy corridor now sits in the 38th District — runs counter to party orthodoxy. In interviews, Hunt acknowledges the importance of tackling climate change, but believes that oil and gas are still critical in this time of transition to a decarbonized future.

“I think we can all be fair, we can all say we want access to this next abundant and affordable source of energy, nobody wants to stop that,” Hunt told Cornerstone’s Jack Belcher. “But it’s not the government’s role to implement that.”

Hunt would also be one of only three black Republicans in the United States House of Representatives.

Hunt did not meet with the editorial board or return calls, which raises concerns about his responsiveness and transparency in public service. Yet his other strengths put him ahead of his main challengers, including two who have the only plausible chance of beating him: Mark Ramsey and Jerry Ford Sr.

Ramsey, 65, is a longtime GOP activist who previously represented parties in the district for the state’s Republican Executive Committee. He has racked up endorsements from statewide elected officials and district precinct presidents and suggests voters will reject Hunt as the candidate hand-picked by Washington politicians. But as a career oil and gas engineer, Ramsey appears to believe the ongoing global energy transition can be halted rather than ensuring Houston remains the energy capital of the world as the mix of sources shifts.

Ford, 62, a former assistant fire chief and fire marshal from Houston, ran in 2020 as a Democrat against U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. He was the only candidate in our endorsement pick to state unequivocally that President Biden rightfully won the election, countering the pernicious narrative of 2020 voter fraud. Yet Ford also had a checkered history as Commissioner of Elections. fires, with several fire inspectors accusing him of taking safety shortcuts to inflate the division’s performance statistics.

Other candidates in the race include Philip Covarrubias, 53; Alex Cross, 51; Brett Guillory, 41; David Hogan, 43; Damien Mockus, 47; Richard Welch, 44; and Roland Lopez, 51. Only Guillory and Lopez raised any money, with $4,078 and $870 in hand, respectively.

We believe Hunt has the vision and pragmatism to be an asset in Congress and urge Republicans to lend him their support.