U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Houston Republican, is facing renewed scrutiny over his attendance record in Congress as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate, following a closely watched vote this week that underscored the House GOP’s narrow margins.
On Thursday, Hunt arrived in Washington just in time to cast a decisive vote helping Republicans defeat a resolution that would have blocked further U.S. military action in Venezuela. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., held the vote open for more than 20 minutes while the chamber awaited Hunt’s arrival, drawing protests from Democrats on the House floor urging Johnson to close the vote.
The vote marked only the fourth time Hunt has voted on the House floor this year. Since lawmakers resumed business earlier this month, the House has held 48 votes, meaning Hunt has missed roughly 92% of them. His overall missed-vote rate since taking office in 2023 now stands at about 20%, or one in five votes.
The absences come as Hunt mounts a primary challenge against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has repeatedly highlighted Hunt’s attendance record on social media. Cornyn’s campaign has also launched a website, whereswesleyhunt.com, to draw attention to the issue.
A spokesperson for Hunt defended the congressman’s absences, saying that no “bills, resolutions, or GOP priorities have been delayed or stopped because of Rep. Hunt’s priority of barnstorming Texas to retire John Cornyn.” Hunt echoed that defense in a social media post Friday, responding to what he described as “anyone clutching pearls about missed votes,” and said he has been “crisscrossing Texas nonstop” on the campaign trail.
“Anytime you run for higher office, you miss votes. Period,” Hunt wrote.
Cornyn, who has missed one vote this year, has taken a sharper tone. “Wesley Hunt is refusing to fight for Trump’s agenda by putting his selfish political ambitions before his responsibilities,” Cornyn campaign spokesperson Matt Mackowiak said in a statement. “He needs to do his job.”
In the Republican primary, Hunt is also competing against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has not publicly commented on Hunt’s attendance record.
According to GovTrack, a nonprofit organization that tracks congressional voting, the median missed-vote rate among current House members is about 2%. By comparison, Rep. Chip Roy, an Austin Republican who is running in a four-way primary for Texas attorney general, has not missed any votes this month. On the Democratic side, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has missed two votes.
Hunt has previously attributed past absences to the premature birth of his son in 2023 and to time spent campaigning with President Donald Trump in 2024.
The attendance issue carries added weight given the House’s slim Republican majority. Following recent vacancies, Republicans hold 218 seats to Democrats’ 213, allowing Johnson to lose only two votes or withstand four absences on party-line measures if all Democrats are present and opposed. The Democratic caucus is expected to grow further after a Jan. 31 special election runoff between two Democrats to fill the Houston-area seat once held by Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died last March.
Earlier on Thursday, before the Venezuela-related vote, Hunt missed a procedural vote setting up debate on four appropriations bills, including legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Johnson told reporters he was surprised by Hunt’s absence and had expected him to attend.
Among Texas lawmakers, Rep. Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, is the only other member who has missed more than half of House roll call votes over the past 10 days. Casar has missed about 58% of votes since the start of the year, though he otherwise had a strong attendance record since taking office in 2023.
