Allen West announces his candidacy for governor of Texas – Telemundo McAllen (40)

AUSTIN, Texas – Allen West, the former Florida Republican congressman and activist who took office on the wave of the Tea Party a decade ago, announced Sunday that he will run for governor of Texas.

The odds are much higher this time, according to The Associated Press: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is running for a third term and may also be considering a presidential bid in 2024, has already secured the backing of Donald Trump.

Now, West would need a large number of voters for a chance to win a Republican primary in Texas.

However, the obstacles don’t stop there. Abbott is the most prodigious fundraiser of any governor in America, having started the year with nearly $ 40 million already spent, and West is shunned by the powerful in his own party.

Last month, West resigned as chairman of the Texas Republican Party after spending a year using the platform to antagonize Abbott and other Republicans whom he considered insufficiently conservative.

Still, West’s fame on the grassroots enduring from a combative stint in the U.S. House of Representatives makes him the most prominent major challenge Abbott has faced since he became governor in 2015.

There have already been signs that Abbott is moving to protect its right flank with the signing of more flexible gun laws in Texas I’ve never endorsed before and retaking Trump’s immigration mantle along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Let’s stand up for God, the country and Texas,” West told those gathered Sunday at Sojourn Church in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, where he made his announcement.

He later tweeted a video of the service.

Democrats, who continue to view Texas as a looming battlefield even as their losing streak continues, have yet to challenge Abbott in 2022, though former Congressman Beto O’Rourke doesn’t rule it out.

West won a Florida House seat in 2010 and quickly became a Tea Party favorite and a lightning rod, at one point accusing Democrats of having as many as 80 Communists in their group of House representatives. He was unable to win reelection in 2012.

He later moved to Texas and remained largely out of the limelight until he ran for president of the state Republican party last year. After winning the job, West criticized both Republicans and Democrats, called the chairman of the Republican Party of the Texas House of Representatives a “traitor” for working across the hall, and led a protest outside the mansion. Abbott for coronavirus restrictions.

In May, West spoke at an event in Dallas that was organized by supporters of the QAnon conspiracy and included former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.

Abbott, which in previous years attracted only token primary contenders, is now facing two candidates who previously held public office. Former Republican State Senator Don Huffines also ran.

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