GEOFF BENNETT: The long list of Republicans seeking their party's nomination for president grew by one more today.

Former Congressman Will Hurd is kicking off his campaign with a direct hit at the field's front-runner.

Lisa Desjardins has more.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD (R-TX), President Candidate: The soul of our country is under attack.

LISA DESJARDINS: Former Congressman Will Hurd reentering the political arena, this time in a run for president, is casting himself as a candidate who can bridge partisan divides.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Common sense says we're better together.

I know it.

You know it.

There's more that unites us than divides us.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hurd left Congress in 2020, after three House terms where he regularly took on then-President Donald Trump on issues like a Southern border wall, guns and political rhetoric, and he is openly taking on Trump again now.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: And 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.

LISA DESJARDINS: In 2014, Hurd beat a Democratic congressman to win a district that stretches across the Texas-Mexico border.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: My colleagues know I'm the only Republican on the border.

LISA DESJARDINS: A former CIA officer with stints in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan, Hurd focused on defense and national security.

But he notably broke with Republicans on some key issues.

He voted to protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination and in favor of bipartisan police reform.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Keeping bad cops off the force could prevent another killing like George Floyd LISA DESJARDINS: On guns, he was one of eight House Republicans who supported universal background checks in 2019.

WOMAN: The bill has passed.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: That was before 19 kids and two teachers were killed in Uvalde, Texas, last year.

Hurd represented that community in Congress.

And on the anniversary of that shooting, he told "NewsHour" he wants more limits on who can buy some guns.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: We know, if you move -- if you turn the age to have a high-caliber rifle to go from 18 to 21, which is -- it's you have to be 21 to get a handgun, that alone would have changed Uvalde and would have changed the lives of 21 families.

LISA DESJARDINS: With cross-party votes came cross-party friendships.

Hurd made headlines in 2017 when he took a road trip from San Antonio to D.C. with then-Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: We don't always agree -- didn't always agree, and we showed that we could disagree without being disagreeable.

LISA DESJARDINS: When he left Congress, Hurd was the only Black Republican in the House.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Howdy, Iowa.

LISA DESJARDINS: And, in this race, he will be the most high-profile Texan.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: We live in incredibly complicated and dangerous times.

And we need commonsense leadership to solve these problems.

LISA DESJARDINS: A straightforward message, but Hurd is part of a growing Republican field, all aiming to stand out.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.