Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West announced his run for governor on Sunday during a July Fourth appearance at Sojourn Church in Carrollton, Texas.
Why it matters: West’s primary bid poses a challenge to incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, who West has routinely criticized since he became the state's Republican Party chairman last year.
- The former congressman, who spoke in June at a QAnon-affiliated convention, resigned his chairmanship last month in anticipation of his gubernatorial bid, per the Texas Tribune.
What they're saying: “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," West said in the video played at the church.