(Bloomberg) -- Former Texas Representative Will Hurd filed paperwork to run for president, calling 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump a "lawless, selfish failed politician" who cost his party wins over the past four years.
A moderate Republican from Texas once seen as a rising star, Hurd on Thursday joined an increasingly large field of long-shot candidates, taking on Trump directly in a fashion that only former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has done so far in the primary.
"If we nominate a lawless, selfish, failed politician like Donald Trump who lost the House, the Senate and the White House, we all know Joe Biden will win again," Hurd said in a campaign launch video. "Republicans deserve better. America deserves better. It's common sense."
A former CIA officer, Hurd highlighted illegal immigration, the fentanyl crisis, crime and homelessness in urban areas as top issues - also stressing improving education and mental health services.
"I believe the Republican Party can be the party that talks about the future, not the past," Hurd said Thursday on CBS News. "We should be putting out a vision of how do we have unprecedented peace, how do we have a thriving economy, how do we make sure our kids have a world-class education, regardless of their age and location?"
In his three terms in the House, Hurd represented a swing district with a Hispanic majority on the border with Mexico and was the only African American Republican in the chamber at the time. He chose not to run for re-election in 2020.
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