Candidate Allen West in hospital with COVID-19

PLANO, Texas — Tea party firebrand Allen West, a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Texas, was hospitalized with COVID-19 on Sunday but said he’s “doing great.”

“No complaints. I’m just relaxing,” West told The Associated Press during a brief phone interview from a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano. He said he got a good night’s rest and was awaiting the results of an early morning chest X-ray.

West and his wife, Angela West, were diagnosed with the virus after attending a “packed house” fundraising event in Seabrook, Texas, last week. He said Saturday that he is “suspending in-person events until receiving an all-clear indication.”

Both Wests received monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 and Angela, who was vaccinated against the virus, was released to go home, Allen West said on Twitter. The Republican candidate said he has not gotten a coronavirus vaccination.

West said on Twitter Sunday that, if elected governor, he would “vehemently crush anyone forcing vaccine mandates” in Texas.

West is a former Texas Republican Party chair and Florida congressman. He announced in July that he would challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbot, who is running for a third term and has been endorsed by Donald Trump.

West’s announcement came a month after he resigned as chair of the Republican Party of Texas.

West won a U.S. House seat in Florida in 2010 and quickly became a tea party favorite. He failed to win reelection in 2012.

He later moved to Texas and largely stayed out of the spotlight until running for chairman of the state GOP party last year.