Texas Republican President Allen West announced on Sunday that he was running for governor and is challenging fellow Republican Greg Abbott.
The announcement came during West’s appearance at Sojourn Church in Carrollton, where the former Florida congressman showed a video showing his campaign.
“I haven’t held an elected political post for about a decade, but I can’t stand on the sidelines and see what happened in this United States of America and… the place I call it. at my place,” West said in the video. . which was preceded by a reading of the Declaration of Independence by West to the congregation assembled on July 4.
West’s campaign begins about a month after he announced his resignation as state party leader.
The resignation will take effect on July 11, when the Republican Executive Committee will meet to elect West’s successor as president.
West was quick to suggest he was considering running for a state post after announcing his resignation, despite widespread speculation about a more important post for months.
As president of the state party, he has not shied away from conflicts with heads of state, including Abbott.
Since being elected president of the Texas Republican Party last July when he defeated incumbent James Dickey, West has criticized Abbott’s response to the coronavirus and has sought to push the governor’s legislative agenda further to the right.
Abbott largely ignored the attacks from the West. But the governor has grown increasingly concerned about his right flank in recent months as he appears to try to reduce potential vulnerabilities ahead of his re-election campaign.
West did not directly mention Abbott in his Sunday remarks at church or on the video. West used the video to describe a platform that focuses on protecting the state’s energy resources from the Green New Deal, the sweeping climate change proposal pushed by some Democrats in Washington, DC that will secure the border of the state, “To make sure Texas is for jeans” and fight against sex trafficking.
The Abbott campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on West’s ad. Abbott received his first credible main challenger in May when former Dallas State Senator Don Huffines made a bid against Abbott.
Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was also considering running against Abbott but announced last month that he would seek to fill his current post instead.
Given the fear within the party, Abbott has also embraced former President Donald Trump more than ever.
In June, he won Trump’s backing for re-election, announced that Texas would build its own border wall to complete work started under Trump, and invited Trump to visit the state border.
West is also a vocal ally of Trump, despite ignoring the impact of Trump’s support on his future political plans.
“You know, I don’t serve President Trump,” West said in June. “I serve God, the country, and Texas. So that doesn’t concern me at all.”
West represented Florida in Congress from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, he moved to Texas to become executive director of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas think tank that closed three years later.
