| | | | |  | | By Brakkton Booker | With help from Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz
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POLITICO illustration/Photo by Houston Chronicle via AP | Greetings Recast fam! War rages on in Ukraine as Russian forces seize a nuclear plant near the city of Enerhodar, the Florida Senate approves a 15-week abortion bill and it's awaiting Gov. DeSantis' signature. And SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson makes the rounds in the U.S. Senate ahead of her confirmation hearings. First, we kick things off with a big win in Texas. Wesley Hunt knows what it's like to ascend. The West Point grad served a combat tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom and flew more than 50 air missions as an Army Apache helicopter pilot. This week, he soared to victory in a Republican primary election in one of the new Texas congressional districts that was tailor-made for him. Literally. As a first-time candidate two years ago, Hunt came narrowly close to pulling off an upset and defeating incumbent Democrat Rep. Lizzie Fletcher in her Houston-area district. Following the 2020 census, Texas added two new congressional districts. The Republican-led Legislature carved out the most GOP-leaning areas of Fletcher's district and combined it with some ruby red parts of the state that retiring Republican Rep. Kevin Brady represents. The result: Hunt blew out the primary field, which included nine others, beating his closest opponent by 25 percentage points in Texas' new 38th District. He's expected to cruise to victory in the general election, meaning you will soon see him heralded as one of the new rising stars of the Republican Party. Hunt, 40, says more Black and brown people are open to the GOP's economic message and he's confident he can help usher in a new wave of Republican voters. "I think when more people like me win in seats like this, you're going to start seeing an even greater shift," Hunt tells me. We chop it up about why voters in his district, in his opinion, "don't care, really, that I'm Black," and why he thinks Republicans will pick up at least 50 House seats in the midterms. We start with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and why he thinks Vladimir Putin has far more respect for former President Donald Trump than he does President Biden. ◆◆◆ This interview has been edited for length and clarity. THE RECAST: You've been critical of President Biden and his handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What specifically are you taking issue with? HUNT: My biggest issue I have is just like a lack of strength, and a lack of overall leadership. Russia is a country that's parked right next to a gas station. Their only economic engine is oil and gas. And yet we are continuing to buy hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from Russia per day, when we can literally provide that for ourselves right here in this country. We have the Permian Basin, right here in Texas, that can do the job for us. That's a really easy solution. We don't have to have boots on the ground, we've just got to cut off their pipelines.
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| I think of the past five presidents, Putin has invaded a country with the exception of one: Donald Trump. And I think the reason why is because there's an overall respect that he had for President Trump. He led from a position of strength not weakness. [Editorial note: Under Presidents Bill Clinton, Russia invaded Chechnya in 1999. Under George W. Bush, Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia in 2008 (both when Putin was prime minister). When Barack Obama was president, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.]
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| Every week, we sit down with diverse and influential characters who are shaking up politics. Who should we profile next? Let us know. Email us at therecast@politico.com.
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THE RECAST: On the issue of Russia not invading another country under Trump, I mean there was election interference in the U.S. 2020 election . There were other aspects too where former President Trump sort of goes against our own intelligence agencies and sides with Putin on that issue. You think that was a show of strength and leadership on President Trump's part?
HUNT: Did Putin invade Ukraine [then]? THE RECAST: No. HUNT: Exactly. At some point in time we have to say, 'Are we better off right now?' … at least Putin wasn't invading other countries, which is kind of the whole point of diplomacy and protecting our allies.
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Wesley Hunt (right) served a combat tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom and flew more than 50 air missions as an Army Apache helicopter pilot. | Courtesy of Wesley Hunt | THE RECAST: If President Biden does as you suggest and cuts off these oil and gas pipelines, some analysts and the Biden administration itself suggest it's going to lead to higher gas prices here. It's going to hurt our allies in Europe that rely on Russian energy and it's going to wreak havoc on the Russian people. HUNT: There is one economic engine for Putin, that's it. It will be a short-term loss [for us and our allies] but certainly it would [force] him out of the Ukraine exponentially faster. This is how we have to play the game here since we're not going to put boots on the ground. We have to figure out how to starve him economically. THE RECAST: OK, I want to switch gears to some happier news, for you. You bested nine challengers to win your primary in the new 38th District outright. It's been widely reported that when the GOP-led Legislature created this district, they drew it with you in mind. Did that add pressure this time or did you feel like this was like your race to lose? HUNT: We just built on what we did the last time. I wasn't worried necessarily about how the lines were drawn and where they were. I know that it was half of the oldest district that I just ran in, which was very beneficial to us and our name ID. We got in this position because, quite frankly, last cycle we came up short. But we were one of the top fundraising candidates in the entire country. That was the last cycle. So … building on that, but in a district that is more favorable to Republicans now, I just think it's a cumulative effect. And we were able to execute pretty well.
|  | THE RECAST: Talk to me about what you learned from that general election loss [in 2020]. You had to have come away with some kind of strategy where you said to yourself "OK, next time I'm going to X." What was it? HUNT: First of all, I surrounded myself with some excellent help. I hired a new [communications] manager, a new campaign manager. And we got very streamlined and [made sure] that the authentic Wesley came out. Not the coached Wesley, not the consultant Wesley, but the real Wesley.
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This week, Wesley Hunt soared to victory in a Republican primary election in one of the new Texas congressional districts. | Courtesy of Wesley Hunt | THE RECAST: So what happened to that "Wesley representative" who ran two years ago? How did the real Wesley come out? What is different? HUNT: Just realizing that the last time was the first time I've ever run for office. So you have a lot of people telling you a lot of different things. A lot of people in your ear. Not that I was inauthentic last time. But I will say [this time around], I was just being myself more often. And I think that's what people saw. And that's what people like more.
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"I will say [this time around] I was just being myself more often. And I think that's what people saw. And that's what people like more," Wesley Hunt told The Recast. | Courtesy of Wesley Hunt | THE RECAST: Should you make it through November and win in the general election, there's going to be pieces written about you and whoever else wins across the country about this growing number of Republicans of color in Congress. I feel like a lot of this stems from folks being shocked in the 2020 cycle that Trump made inroads with Black and Latino communities. What do you say to folks who are still a bit taken aback by Black Americans who aren't Democrats? HUNT: Everybody has their own story. I think a lot of people realize that just because my grandfather, my grandmother, and my great great grandfather and great great grandmother voted Democrat, doesn't necessarily help me right now, today. So if I still want lower taxes, and if I still want a job and if I still want to have my own freedoms; [if] I still don't want the government telling me how I'm supposed to live my life, what vaccines I'm supposed to get and how long I'm supposed to be wearing a mask – the government literally dictating everything to me … I'm going to go, "You know what? The Republican Party looks pretty good right now." The district I'm running in is actually a majority white district. I was the only Black person running in a 10-person primary and the second-place person was 25 points behind me. So what I discovered is people are actually less interested in color.
|  | And I think when more people like me win in seats like this, you're going to start seeing an even greater shift. Now granted, more people like me, have to run in places like this to prove that fact. You look at me, you look at [Florida Rep.] Byron Donalds and you look at [Utah Rep.] Burgess Owens , the three of us are Black men who ran in relatively white, affluent, well-educated areas and we all did very well. And I think that's really where the party is actually trending. THE RECAST: You appear to have a pretty comfortable race in 2022. But what are you anticipating nationally? Do you see this as sort of a wave election that many are predicting it to be? HUNT: So it's going to be a wave election, not because Republicans think that, not because I'm Republican. It's going to be a wave election because that's what Democrats clearly think. Democrats have [a slim] majority right now in the House. And they're gonna have [at least] 31 retirements because they know the red wave is coming. President Obama lost [63 seats] in 2010. Joe Biden is orders of magnitude worse than President Obama. And this is not even close. I think [Republicans] win at least 50 seats coming up this next cycle.
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Wesley Hunt (right) is expected to cruise to victory in the general election. | Courtesy of Wesley Hunt | THE RECAST: 50?! HUNT: At least 50. Obviously Biden won Virginia by 10 points [in 2020 and following statewide elections there last year] Virginia has a Republican governor, lieutenant governor and AG. , Before that the NRCC Republicans were targeting about 50 seats. After Virginia, we're targeting 70 seats. So I think we land somewhere between 50 and 60 seats. You heard it here first sir! Hold me to it, dog. I mean that. (laughs) ◆◆◆ OK fam, Friday is here! You know how we do, we're gonna get you caught up with some quick hit news updates, then we'll finish the week strong with some weekend to-dos! WATCH: George P. Bush, the scion of the Bush political dynasty, heads to a runoff to unseat incumbent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Bush didn't mince words about his opponent.
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| Just as Wesley Hunt sees a trend of more Black folks embracing the GOP, POLITICO's Sabrina Rodriguez reports that a similar trend is happening among Latinas, who also fared well in this week's elections in Texas. BUZZ KILL - In the early days of Joe Biden's presidency, his administration rescinded numerous job offers because of an applicant's prior marijuana use. POLITICOs Alex Thompson and Natalie Fertig report simply investing in legal cannabis companies could now trip up prospective job candidates who want to work for Biden, too. And stay caught up with POLITICO's evolving political implications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Jane Pek's debut novel, "The Verifiers," is part techno thriller, part mystery. Are you listening to "The Trojan Horse Affair"? It's a twist-turny podcast exploring the story of an anonymous letter sent to England's Birmingham City Council in 2013. The letter detailed a purported Islamist plot to take over local schools. Except it wasn't true. Drama ensued. Batman is back, but this time he's "The Batman." Aughts era punk rocker Fefe Dobson is making a comeback. Check out her new single, "FCKN IN LOVE."
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| Sending you off for the weekend with this risqué duet from Doja Cat and Tyga, "Freaky Deaky."
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| Two TikToks of the Day: First, it's just that simple.
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| Second, the struggle is real — especially in journalism.
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