Rep. Wesley Hunt on all 4 Black House Republicans leaving Congress: ‘I don’t care how many Black people are here’
TheGrio...
“I’m being addressed not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character,” said Hunt, loosely quoting famous remarks made by civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Despite historic gains in the number of Black Republicans serving in the United States Congress, all four Black GOP members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be leaving by the end of the current session in January 2027.
When confronted about the mass exodus of Black Republicans leaving the House after years of the overwhelmingly majority-white party trying to recruit more diverse candidates, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas made it clear: “I don’t care.”
“I don’t understand how that’s relevant,” said Congressman Hunt, who opted for an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas instead of seeking re-election. He told Pablo Manriquez of MediaTouch, “I’m not here because I’m Black. I am here because I’m [a] qualified representative for Congress with District 38 and the American people choose who they want to choose. And the one thing I don’t want to get into is this game of race bait all day, every day.”
He added, “If there’s four, if there’s 10, if there’s none, we are talking about who is the best person that is best qualified to fill a seat, regardless of the way that they look.”
Hunt, a 44-year-old Army veteran, emphasized that he represents a “white majority district that President Trump would have won by over 20 points,” adding, “I won by 25 points the last time I ran.”
“I’m being addressed not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character,” said Hunt, loosely quoting famous remarks made by civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He added, “I don’t care how many Black people are here. I want the most qualified people that are here.”
Hunt is joining U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., John James, R-Mich., and Burgess Owens, R-Utah, come January 3, 2027, when all four Black Republicans say goodbye to Congress. U.S. Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., will return to being the only Black Republican on Capitol Hill.
Like Hunt, Congressmen Donalds and James are seeking statewide office in their respective states. Donalds, who has served in Congress since 2021, is running for governor in Florida, where he enjoys a comfortable lead in polls. James, who entered Congress in 2023, is running in a competitive Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, where he was recently booed by Michigan Republicans. Owens, who was elected to Congress in 2020, announced in March that he would not seek re-election.
The departure of the Republican Party’s bench of Black members comes as the party has escalated its policies and rhetoric attacking diversity, equity and inclusion led by President Donald Trump. For decades, the Republican Party has faced criticisms for its lack of diversity, particularly in courting Black voters. Electing more Black candidates was seen as an opportunity to win over more Black voters, who overwhelmingly vote for the Democratic Party.
In 2024, 83% of Black voters cast their ballots for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, while 15% voted for Trump. While the president remains deeply unpopular with Black voters, recent data from CNN shows the Republican Party has made a small but modest “generational” gain with Black voters.
Hunt, James, Donalds, Owens, and Scott served in critical roles in Trump’s 2024 campaign, including outreach to Black voters. Whether the party can continue to make gains with less Black representation remains to be seen.