West resigning as Texas GOP chair after less than a year in job.
West known for incendiary remarks, spats with top Republican officials
Allen West, whose nearly 11 months as Texas GOP chairman have been marked by open clashes with Republican state leaders, announced Friday he is stepping down on July 11.
“Humbled and blessed by the opportunity to serve …” West said on Twitter after it was announced he is leaving.
The announcement by West, a former Florida congressman who has been chairman of the Republican Party of Texas since July 2020 and is known for his incendiary remarks, fueled speculation that he may seek public office again.
Speaking to reporters in Smith County, where state Republicans were holding a meeting on Friday, West mused about running for Congress again when asked if he might seek statewide office.
“Maybe something even congressional. Because I do live in Texas 32, and there’s a guy in Texas 32 I really don’t care for being my congressional representative,” West said of the 32nd Congressional District, now held by Democrat Colin Allred.
West has frequently been mentioned as a potential rival to Gov. Greg Abbott because of his public criticism of the two-term governor, particularly over public health restrictions imposed during the pandemic. He has also had spats with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
and House Speaker Dade Phelan.
West had considered a congressional bid before ultimately deciding to seek the reins of the Texas GOP.
The statement from the state party did not reference any future political plans.
“Lt. Col. Allen West will take this opportunity to prayerfully reflect on a new chapter in his already distinguished career,” the party said. “We know that wherever he goes next, he will continue to be a bulwark against pro
gressive socialism and a champion for the principles of Texas and our American Republic.”
West, 60, is originally from Georgia and grew up in Atlanta’s inner city before joining the military and ascending to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army. His military career came to an abrupt end after he fired a pistol near the head of an Iraqi detainee during interrogation. West insisted he was only trying to protect his men from an ambush.
During his time in politics, West has not hesitated to use inflammatory language to get his point across. While representing a Palm Beach Countybased district in Congress from 2011 to 2013, the tea party conservative made headlines when he said Nazis would be impressed with the media tactics used by Democrats. One of two black Republicans in Congress, he called then-President Barack Obama “a low-level
Socialist agitator,” according to Reuters. At another point, he claimed to know up to 81 members of the Democratic Party were members of the Communist Party.
After his Florida district was redrawn, he ran in a swing district in 2012 and was narrowly defeated despite raising $19 million.
More recently West, who relocated to North Texas in 2014, took issue with Abbott’s public health restrictions during a surge in coronavirus hospitalizations, decrying “the tyranny that we see in the great state of Texas.” And when state Rep. Dade Phelan assembled bipartisan support for his bid to be Texas House speaker, West scoffed, “The Republican Party of Texas is perplexed, and will not support, a potential Texas Speaker of the House who would seek affirmation from progressive socialist Democrats to attain that position.”