Ex-Texas GOP Chairman Allen West announced on Independence Day that he is running for governor, challenging incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott in the Republican primary.
Abbott now will face West and former state Sen. Don Huffines in the 2022 primary.
West’s announcement came during an appearance at Sojourn Church in Carrollton, where he said he and his family have been members since November.
In his campaign launch video—which West played for churchgoers—he recites lyrics from the state song, “Texas, Our Texas,” and speaks about the need to guarantee, protect and secure those words for future generations.
“It is our time to stand up and honor those words of ‘Texas, Our Texas’,” West said in the video. “And to secure the future for our children and our grandchildren, to make sure that the growth, the opportunity and the prosperity, the economic success that you see here in Texas continues on.”
“I couldn’t think of a better place, and a better day, to make that announcement,” West said.
“I have not been in elected political office for about a decade,” West said in the video. “But I can no longer sit on the sidelines and see what is happening in these United States of America, what is happening in the place that I call home.”
A former congressman from Florida, West moved to Texas in 2014 to become the CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas think tank that ceased operations in 2017.
West was elected to lead the state Republican Party during a virtual convention in July 2020, in which he unseated James Dickey, who had served as party chairman since 2017. As chairman, West frequently criticized Abbott on the governor’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and his expansion of early voting in October as a pandemic safety measure. He resigned the position in June.
Abbott announced his intention to seek a third term earlier this year and has gotten the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who praised the current governor’s policies on guns, immigration, jobs, law enforcement and crime.
“Greg Abbott is a fighter and a great governor for the incredible people of Texas,” Trump said in a written statement, praising Abbott’s record on issues, according to a June article in The Texas Tribune. “Gov. Greg Abbott will continue to be a great leader for the Lone Star State, and has my complete and total endorsement for re-election. He will never let you down.”
Trump and Abbott also visited the Texas-Mexico border together late last month.
The endorsement was a blow to the Huffines campaign. Huffines has billed himself as the Trump candidate in the governor’s race and issued this written statement: “My family and I have supported President Trump since 2016. My brother and I raised money for him, my children worked on his campaigns, and we continue to be staunch supporters of the president’s mission to put America First. I am the clear Trump candidate in the Texas governor’s race. Governor Abbott is unable to say the same and actively worked against President Trump on the most critical issue facing Texas: the southern border. Texas Primary voters and Trump supporters will decide for themselves who will lead our state forward, and who has failed Texans repeatedly on issues that matter the most.”
Huffines also acknowledged West’s entry to the primary race.
“I want to welcome Allen West to the race for Texas governor. I look forward to Allen joining our efforts to make clear that Texans can do better than Greg Abbott. The open Texas border, skyrocketing property taxes, and leftward cultural shift occurring in our state must end—and it all starts with strong leadership,” he said in a news release. “Texas voters are looking for actual Republicans who are ready to fight for our values. This primary process will afford Texans their first-ever opportunity to have a choice other than RINOs who have refused to deliver the results we deserve.”
Abbott has been in public office for 25 years having the distinction of being the longest serving attorney general in the state’s history.
Huffines was elected to the state senate in 2014 and served one four-year term.
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