R&I – FS
Even for a pol known for chaos and controversy, Allen West had a doozy of a first week as a Texas gubernatorial candidate.
Top state Republicans called on him to quit his post immediately as state GOP chair Tuesday, citing a conflict of interest with his campaign (he refused). He called the party’s vice chair “a cancer” on Wednesday (she’s a cancer survivor). Then West committed a Texas-sized error by heading Friday to Alaska for a joint Texas-Alaska GOP fundraiser bearing a title that strikes at Lone Star pride: “THE HEART OF ALASKA IS BIGGER THAN TEXAS.”
“Texans won’t agree with the event being billed as ‘the heart of Alaska is bigger than Texas,’ but Allen West has proven he has never understood our state,” Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak said. “We don’t like bullies, egomaniacs or jerks, and he is all three.”
West’s bid for governor is a long shot: He moved to Texas only in early 2015 after serving a single term as a Florida tea party congressman. Gov. Greg Abbott appears to be in solid shape, with high approval ratings among GOP primary voters and a stunning $55 million in the bank.
PragDem