A day into the new Nancy Pelosi-run U.S. House of Representatives, and Will Hurd has ditched the GOP.

The San Antonio congressman was one of seven Republicans on Friday to vote for the Democrats’ attempt to fund government without providing the border security money President Donald Trump has said is contingent on his signing the bill.

Asked about his vote, Hurd told Texas Public Radio he doesn’t want to be “playing politics with a shutdown.”

Hurd says he voted with Democrats because he feels it’s important to keep agencies like the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, open.

But by voting with the Democrats, he was working against the popular border security initiatives of the president and the GOP.

Indeed, his vote was the epitome of “playing politics”: by voting to advance legislation that Trump and other Republicans had already said they would not support, Hurd effectively chose to rebuke his own party on a bill doomed to die.

Hurd was the only Texas Republican to vote with the Democrats. The rest of the Texas Republican delegation stood with President Trump and against the Democrats. That includes newly elected Republican congressmen Van Taylor, Dan Crenshaw, Ron Wright, Chip Roy, Lance Gooden, and Michael Cloud.

Hurd helped propel Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke to political fame with a live-streamed car trip on social media, just months before the El Paso Democrat announced his challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

He is the lowest-rated Texas Republican on both the Club for Growth and the Heritage Action scorecards.

Michael Quinn Sullivan

Michael Quinn Sullivan is the publisher of Texas Scorecard. He is a native Texan, a graduate of Texas A&M, and an Eagle Scout. Previously, he has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine contributor, Capitol Hill staffer, and think tank vice president. Michael and his wife have three adult children, a son-in-law, and a dog. Michael is the author of three books, including "Reflections on Life and Liberty."

RELATED POSTS