And then there were ninety-eleven. Okay — maybe not quite that many. But the field of presidential hopefuls on the Republican side keeps blossoming. On Thursday, one more candidate tossed his hat in the ring: Former Texas Congressman and CIA clandestine officer Will Hurd.

Hurd, who served in Congress from 2015 to 2021, announced his bid in a CBS interview Thursday morning.

BREAKING: Former Texas Rep. @WillHurd announces he’s running for president on CBS Mornings, joining 11 other GOP primary candidates. https://t.co/pk05n5ceEv pic.twitter.com/mLrebFY5hf

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 22, 2023

Hurd laid out his rationale and his vision to the hosts:

I want to let everybody know that this morning, I filed to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States. This is a decision that my wife and I decided to do because we live in complicated times, and we need common sense. There are a number of generational defining challenges that we are faced with in the United States of America — everything from the Chinese government trying to surpass us as the global superpower; the fact that inflation is persistent at a time when technologies, like artificial intelligence, is going to upend every single industry; and our kids? Their scores in math, science, and reading are the lowest they’ve ever been in this century.

These are the issues we should be talking about and to be frank, I’m pissed that we’re not talking about these things. I’m pissed that our elected officials are telling us to hate our neighbors — our neighbors are not our enemies; they’re our fellow Americans who we just happen to have a disagreement with. These are the issues that we should be talking about, and I believe the Republican Party can be the party that talks about the future, not the past. 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 or location? We can do this — it’s hard. But here’s one thing I learned — if we remember two things, we can pull this off: America is better together, and way more unites us than divides us.

Hurd, who at 45 is one of the younger entrants into the race, grew up near San Antonio, Texas, and attended Texas A&M University. Hurd worked for the CIA from 2000 to 2009. Though he was primarily stationed in Washington, D.C., he spent time in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. Following his service with the agency, he returned to Texas, where he was a senior advisor with a cybersecurity firm before launching his initial congressional bid in 2010. While that bid failed, Hurd ran again in 2014 and won. He served three terms in Congress, representing Texas’ 23rd congressional district. While in Congress, Hurd served on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chairing the Information Technology Subcommittee, the Homeland Security Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Hurd has been married to Lynlie Wallace since 2022.

With his announcement, Hurd joins a crowded field that includes former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, radio talk show host Larry Elder, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and, of course, former President Donald Trump.

Asked about the former president, Hurd said: “You can’t be afraid of Donald Trump. Too many of these candidates in this race are afraid of Donald Trump,” adding: “I’m not satisfied with the field as it stands right now. No one is taking on Trump effectively, or presenting a vision for the future.” Though Hurd is attempting to distance himself from Trump, the DNC is, of course, attempting to paint him as their favorite bogeyman — the MAGA extremist:

Will Hurd spent his career in Congress in lockstep with Donald Trump’s extreme MAGA agenda – voting to rig the economy for the ultra-wealthy, ban abortion nationwide, gut Planned Parenthood, and repeal the Affordable Care Act, all while cozying up to the gun lobby,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “The GOP primary field is overflowing with MAGA Republicans desperate to win over the right-wing fringes, and Hurd is just the latest entrant into an incredibly chaotic and extreme 2024 field.

I liked Hurd as a Congressman and don’t, at present, find anything overtly objectionable about him as a candidate (other than observing that the increasingly crowded field makes for exceedingly narrow lanes, particularly for lesser-known candidates). However, I do have to wonder how great an appetite a Republican base thoroughly fed up with the intelligence community and the “deep state” can muster for a former CIA officer.