Former one-term Congressman and Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Allen West officially announced his challenge to Governor Greg Abbott’s re-election. West resigned from the RPT about a month ago but the resignation takes effect on July 11. At the time he announced his resignation from the RPT, it was commonly thought that West would run for governor. As chairman of the party, he frequently criticized Abbott.

West’s only elected office experience is as a one-term congressman – from Florida in 2011 to 2013. He moved to Texas in 2014 to accept the CEO position with a free-market think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas. In 2020 he was elected chairman of the RPT. His resignation came after less than a year in that position.

Allen West joins former state senator Don Huffines as a primary challenger. West declared his candidacy at Sojourn Church in Carrollton, Texas on Sunday. He presented his campaign’s first video pitch.

“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, which was preceded by West reading aloud the Declaration of Independence to the churchgoers gathering on July Fourth.

Thank you all so very much for your overwhelming support! For those asking how you can financially support the campaign — and I am humbled by the requests — please see this page (there is a note at the bottom for those who would prefer to mail a check): https://t.co/2cgOFvKscC pic.twitter.com/riHCJagI3w

— West4Texas (@West4Texas) July 4, 2021

During his time at the RPT, West frequently criticized Abbott’s coronavirus response. He regularly tries to push the governor’s legislative agenda further to the right. Abbott usually ignores West’s attacks. That will change now. Abbott doesn’t back down from a fight, as we have seen since the Biden border crisis became a full-blown humanitarian and public health disaster. As for Abbott’s coronavirus response, he did as well as could be expected. That’s my opinion, anyway. He concentrated on re-opening the state as quickly as possible. You may remember that Joe Biden referred to Texans as ‘Neanderthals” for preferring to get businesses re-opened and people back to work as quickly as was safe to do so. Last time I checked, Texas has fared just fine, thank you very much.

West did not directly mention Abbott in his remarks Sunday in the church or in the video. West used the video to sketch out a platform focused on shielding the state’s energy resources against the Green New Deal — the sweeping climate change proposal pushed by some Democrats in Washington, D.C. — securing the state’s border “to ensure that Texas is for Texans” and combatting sex trafficking.

Critics of Abbott’s often point to the recent power grid failure experienced in the state in February due to record-setting cold temperatures and ice storms. That, however, falls at the feet of ERCOT and the state legislature. Abbott set improvements to the energy grid as a top legislative priority for this year’s session. You notice West didn’t include criticism on how Abbott handled the power grid disaster, at least during his campaign announcement. West and Huffines are certainly free to challenge Abbott. It seems to me to be a futile attempt. Perhaps they are looking to either raise their profiles for future runs or an attempt to fundraise in order to pursue pet projects.

It’s important that Republicans work together in 2022 in Texas. Retaining the governorship is important. In the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll (June 2021), Abbott is at 44% approval, 44% disapproval. This approval ranking by Texas voters is better than that of Joe Biden, Senators Cruz and Cornyn, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Tx Atty Gen Ken Paxton, and House Speaker Dade Phelan. Of Republicans, Abbott’s approval is at 77% – 43% “strongly approve” of his performance. Unsurprisingly, Democrats disapprove of Abbott. Eighty-two percent disapprove and 75% “strongly disapprove”. “What we’re seeing now is that Democrats are registering as much disapproval with him as they are with really any kind of national Republican figure,” said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project.

Waiting in the wings with a possible run for governor is actor Matthew McConaughey. He released a 3-minute long video on his thoughts about Independence Day.

happy 245th birthday America – lets rock pic.twitter.com/MiLKZ0HN8y

— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) July 4, 2021

Now, I’m still not convinced that McConaughey will pull the trigger and actually announce a run for governor. If he does, it will likely be as an Independent, though his mother has been active in Republican politics in Texas for decades. In the meantime, I think he’s having some fun, enjoying promoting his book, and getting some political opinions out on social media. He’s never boring.

Earlier in the spring, McConaughey had a very healthy lead (about 20 points) over Abbott in polling but that has changed. A poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows Abbott with a very slight lead over McConaughey. It is a small poll and only registered voters (likely voters are a better gauge) were polled. It was taken before Allen West’s announcement Sunday.

Abbott, a two-term Republican, is favored by 39% of Texans of all political stripes, while McConaughey, who hasn’t picked a political party or even committed to running, draws backing from 38%. Nearly a quarter of Texans said they’d vote for someone else.

The poll, conducted June 22-29, surveyed 1,090 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

It showed that since April, Abbott has improved his standing with all voters, though he’s still behind among independents. He is likely to handily dispatch fellow Republican and former state Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas in their tussle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Among Texans who say they’ll vote in the Republican primary, Abbott leads Huffines, 77% to 12%.

No major Texas Democrat has entered the race. Beto O’Rourke hasn’t definitely ruled it out, though, so his name was put up in the poll. Abbott is well ahead of Robert Francis O’Rourke.

If O’Rourke tosses his bandanna in the ring, he starts out behind: While about two-thirds of Democrats support O’Rourke, 78% of the more numerous Republicans back Abbott. And Abbott’s edging O’Rourke among independents (35%-28%), for an overall lead of 45%-33% in their general-election showdown.

Oh, yeah. Trump endorsed Abbott last month, so there’s that.