Capitol Inside
November 9, 2021

Former Texas GOP chief Allen West touted a major endorsement from the conservative evangelical community on Tuesday in a bid to oust Governor Greg Abbott in 2022 on a primary ballot that include U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Longview as a candidate for attorney general.

Gohmert unveiled a web site today that effectively declares him to be an unofficial contender in the battle for the post that embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking again next year.

But Gohmert suggested that he needs to round up at least $1 million in contributions from supporters in the next 10s before he pulls the trigger on a statewide race that would require him to give up a safe congressional seat in a district that he's represented almost 17 years.

"Texas is in grave trouble, but with your help, we can save our great state," Gohmert says on the new site.

As the GOP base sizzled with anticipation on a possible Gohmert dive into an already-crowded field in the state lawyer's race, West gave anti-Abbott conservatives cause to rejoice when he landed an endorsement from Nick Vujicic - a prominent Australian Christian evangelist who's based now in California. Vujicic was born with a condition that left him with no arms or legs.

“I only endorse Jesus Christ but let me tell you if you're asking me who I'm voting for in this next upcoming election, it's Allen B. West," Vujicic said in an email from the West campaign for governor. "Allen and I are friends we don't agree on everything, but our common denominators are very clear when we talk about national security, when we talk about value for life, and when we talk about the constitutional rights as American citizens. This is the time for Texas to hold strong.”

West has been Abbott's closest pursuer in a field of primary challengers that includes former Texas Senate member Don Huffines based on polling on the battle for governor here. A survey that the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Tribune released late last week showed Abbott and West with 56 percent and 13 percent respectively. Huffines was third at 7 percent while Chad Prather tied with "someone else" at 4 percent.

The same poll found Paxton with the support of 48 percent of Republican voters in a bid for a third term in the position that Gohmert is exploring and appeared on the verge of entering on Tuesday based on his rhetoric. Land Commissioner George P. Bush was favored in the AG's race by 16 percent of the GOP voters in the UT-TT poll, which found State Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth with 3 percent ahead of former state Supreme Court judge Eva Guzman at 2 percent.

Gohmert ignored the potential competition from challengers while taking aim at the incumbent without identifying him by name.

“We need a Texas Attorney General whose top attorneys working for him have not found it necessary to send a letter to the FBI urging an investigation into corruption of their boss,” Gohmert contends on the new campaign site for an AG's race.

“This is not at all like Obama loyalists working in the Trump administration who worked to get rid of Republican President Trump,” Gohmert added. “It is true that the current Texas Attorney General filed some popular Republican-favored lawsuits, especially in the last year AFTER the latest ethical, moral, and criminal allegations against him arose from his top staff.”

Gohmert would be competing with Paxton for votes on the far right. Donald Trump has endorsed Paxton for re-election. Paxton has been a Trump favorite since he tried and failed to have the 2020 election reversed by the U.S. Supreme in the so-called Texas challenge.

But Gohmert has been a fierce Trump loyalist as well - with a penchant for outrageous remarks that the ex-president might find endearing.

more to come ...