SAN ANTONIO — Will Hurd wants to be the next President of the United States. Right now, the former congressman and San Antonio native is on the campaign trail. He is in a crowded field of other Republican hopefuls, which includes the former President Donald Trump.
Hurd said he recognizes the difficulty of the task.
"I am a dark horse candidate," he said. "I am a startup."
Hurd is campaigning as a modern Republican voice.
"I am learning a lot," he said. "Seeing a great part of the country and taking a message that is resonating with people."
He served as a representative for Texas's 23rd Congressional district, and was also a CIA officer. The last few years, he has been in the private sector.
"Easy thing for me is, I am being honest," he said.
Hurd admits securing the nomination is a tall task. The last five weeks, he has been on the campaign trail. His focus is what he calls generation-defining challenges.
"Chinese government is trying to surpass the U.S. as a global super power, and that is going to impact every single American," he said. "We are dealing with persistent inflation. "Our kids, their scores in math, science, reading are the lowest they have been this century."
Hurd said he simply has a common-sense vision for the country.
"We need someone who has a mix of foreign policy, domestic policy, and technology understanding in order to help us get through these times, “Hurd said.
Hurd's other opponents have more name recognition and are raising more money. He points to be previous races where he was successful.
"Nobody thought a Black Republican could win in a 72% Latino district that had been held by a Democrat for a long time," he said. "I showed up to places that people least expected me. I didn't always have the most money. I didn't always have the most name ID. But, my goal was to always outwork people and talk about things that people cared about."
The first Republican debate is next month, and there are requirements to meet, like polling and having 40,000 unique donors. However, there is one requirement Hurd said he is not going to do.
"I have said I am not signing a pledge, the RNC pledge to support whoever the nominee is," he said. "My issue is not supporting a Republican nominee. My issue is I am not going to support Donald Trump. I can't lie in order to get access to the debate stage."
In the meantime, Hurd said he is moving forward to meet all those requirements. According to reports, seven other candidates have met the polling requirements to appear in the debate.