Lt. Col. Allen West Aims to Become First Black Republican Elected Governor, Announces Primary Challenge Against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West has announced that he will run for governor of Texas and primary challenge Greg Abbott, who is reviled by the state’s conservative base for refusing to secure the border.

“I’ve not been in elected political office for about a decade, but I can no longer sit on the sidelines and see what has happened in these United States of America and … the place that I call home,” said West, who served as Texas GOP chairman before stepping down to run for governor, in a video released on Independence Day.

West would become the first black Republican ever elected to be governor in any state in the nation if his challenge against Abbott is successful. P. B. S. Pinchback had previously served as Governor of Louisiana from 1872 to 1873 but he was appointed to the role and never elected through a vote of the people. West’s election would be a truly historic victory for Texas and the Republican Party in general.