John Kasich to Campaign for Will Hurd in Re-election Battle

U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, is getting support from former presidential candidate John Kasich in his campaign to hold on to his West Texas seat. 

Kasich, the Ohio governor, will campaign for Hurd on Saturday in San Antonio, according to Hurd's campaign. Kasich will be the second high-profile Republican to stump for Hurd in a week, following Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend. 

Hurd is in a heated rematch with Alpine Democrat Pete Gallego for the 23rd Congressional District, the only competitive U.S. House race on the ballot in November in Texas. Gallego has aggressively sought to tie Hurd to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, whom Hurd currently does not support.

Promotion: John Kasich is speaking at the 2016 Texas Tribune Festival. Find out more at texastribune.org/festival

Kasich is also a Trump holdout. On Sunday, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus warned of post-election consequences for anti-Trump Republicans such as Kasich — drawing a harsh rebuke from top Kasich aide John Weaver, who said the governor "will not be bullied by a Kenosha political operative."

"In fact, Reince should be thanking the governor for standing for an inclusive, conservative vision that can actually win a national election and improve our country," Weaver said in a statement. "The governor is traveling the nation supporting down-ballot Republicans and preventing a potential national wipeout from occurring on Reince's watch."

On Saturday, Kasich is expected to attend an event for Hurd similar to the one Abbott headlined over the weekend in San Antonio, where he rallied supporters at Hurd's headquarters before they headed out to volunteer.

Read more on Texas' down-ballot races: 

• Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday pitched U.S. Rep. Will Hurd as the "rookie of the year" in his fight for re-election while seeking to boost the freshman among the same voters that Democrats hope will be Hurd's downfall in November. 
• Ted Cruz is urging Texas Republicans not to stay home in November, even if they are unhappy with how the presidential race turned out.