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Will Hurd, GOP candidate for U.S. representative, said Monday during a campaign stop in El Paso that he knows he's in a tight race against Democrat incumbent Pete Gallego.
"I spent Sunday and Monday campaigning here, knocking on doors in Horizon and Socorro, doing interviews, and going to meetings and fundraisers," Hurd said.
Hurd, 37, is challenging Gallego for the right to represent Texas Congressional District 23, which stretches from part of San Antonio to far East El Paso County.
Bob Peña, the El Paso County Republican Party's elections administrator, said "the District 23 race is considered among the top five most competitive Congressional races in the nation."
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Diana Washington Valdez 
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It may be why the candidates' respective parties are pouring money into this Congressional contest. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $900,677 in support of Gallego, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has given $742,576 to help Hurd beat Gallego, according to campaign contribution statistics compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Hurd, a native of San Antonio, is a former Central Intelligence Agency operations officer and a graduate of Texas A&M. He is a businessman who specializes in cybersecurity.
He said the top issues that Congress faces include strengthening the economy and generating jobs, improving access to health care, and improving U.S. foreign policy.
"People are sick and tired of a lack of leadership in Congress," Hurd said in an interview. "They want someone to go to Washington, D.C., to get things done."
Hurd said the economy could bounce back faster if Congress did something about the government overregulation that hurts business. He said he would like to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, "and replace it with something better that increases access to health care and decreases costs."
He said U.S. foreign policy would be better with "a strong economy, strong nation and strong defense."
Hurd said the Islamic State (ISIS) must be destroyed, but that boots on the ground are not necessary yet to deal with the terrorist organization.
"There are some things we can still do to fight them before thinking about putting ground troops there," the candidate said. "It's also better to deal with the ISIS threat overseas than having to deal with them later in the United States."
Hurd said he's seen how wait times at the international bridges can slow down legitimate traffic and commerce, and believes that bridge officials should be given the flexibility to adjust their staffs and operations as they see fit.
"A big energy boom is getting (ready) to occur in Mexico, and we need to facilitate the trade that will take place across the border from this while protecting our border," he said.
Hurd, who served with the CIA in political hot spots like Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, among others, said he is opposed to granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants, and would like to see more intelligence used to head off border security issues.
"I'm the only one running for Congress with my kind of background," he said.
Gallego, 52, a former prosecutor and former state representative, is seeking a second term and indicated that he's optimistic.
"The campaign is going extremely well and just like last time, El Paso is a huge part of our path to victory," Gallego said. "I've loved visiting El Paso more times than I can count over the past couple years and we have a great campaign operation here that's been up and running for months."
No one at El Paso County Democratic Party headquarters was available for comment late Monday.
The GOP's Peña said Hurd and other Republican Party candidates in Texas are probably going to benefit from Republican candidate Gregg Abbott's race for governor. According to the latest polls included in realclearpolitics.com, Abbott is leading in polls against Democrat Wendy Davis.
"We're out there working hard for the District 23 race," Peña said. "We're not taking it for granted."
For more information visit: hurdforcongress.com and petegallego.com
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