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EXCLUSIVE – Jeremy Hunt, a 28-year-old Army veteran who is bidding to unseat Georgia’s longest serving member of Congress in this November’s midterm elections, on Monday landed a high-profile endorsement from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Hunt, the Republican son of a Black pastor who earlier this month announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, is aiming to oust Democrat Sanford Bishop, a moderate Black Democrat who has served in Congress for three decades.

"I am proud to endorse and support Jeremy Hunt in his run for Congress. As a West Point graduate and former Army intelligence officer, Jeremy has spent his life serving America and fighting for what we believe in. I know he’ll do that in Congress," Hawley said in a statement that was first reported by Fox News on Monday.

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 "Jeremy is part of a new generation of conservative leaders; bold, fearless, and principled — exactly what’s needed to defeat a Democrat who has been in Congress for thirty years. This fall, Jeremy Hunt will be part of the Red Wave that will sweep conservatives back into the majority and put a stop to Joe Biden’s ruinous agenda," Hawley predicted.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine Texas' abortion law on Capitol Hill on Sept. 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine Texas' abortion law on Capitol Hill on Sept. 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)

Hunt, in a statement, praised Hawley as "a fearless leader, who never backs down in the fight for working families. If I’m elected, I’m excited to join the fight to rein in Washington and return power back to the American people."

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Hawley’s endorsement follows that of another conservative GOP senator – Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Cotton, an Army officer veteran who served in the war in Iraq, recruited Hunt as part of his "Veterans to Victory" program which he rolled out last June. He formally endorsed Hunt earlier this month.

Hunt, a Georgia native and West Point graduate who served for five years as an Army intelligence officer, was a frequent guest last year on Fox News and a visiting fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

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Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, located in the southwest corner of the state, includes part of what is referred to as Georgia’s historic "Black belt," a region of majority-Black counties. It is also the only rural congressional district in the state that continues to send Democrats to the nation’s capital.

Two top non-partisan political handicappers, the Cook Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, both rate the district as "Likely Democrat."