Former chair of the Republican Party of Texas Lt. Col. Allen West is officially running to be the chair of the Dallas County Republican Party.
After filing with the county on Thursday morning, West was interviewed by The Dallas Express on his bid to lead the local GOP chapter. West explained that the Republican party needs to focus more on electing conservatives on the county and local levels.
“When you look at the strategy of the Left, they have been very successful in going to red states and taking over major population centers because the Republican Party has not focused on county and local levels,” said West. “We need to be focused on the local races because that’s how you can flip an entire state if you take over a major population sector. Look at Nevada, look at Colorado, look at where I was born and raised in Georgia. Five major city areas have flipped that state.”
West also added that he believes the “number one most important elected position in the United States of America is the school board,” saying that he’s always tried to focus on local-level elections.
During West’s time as the chair of the Texas GOP, he tried to get Republicans more engaged in municipal elections. He says municipal elections are probably more important than being at the state GOP level.
“Even though people say they’re nonpartisan, we know that that is not the case,” said West. “I see this as probably more important and more focused for the state of Texas than being up there at the state GOP level because this is where the leftist folks like George Soros have come in and supported judicial races. He supported DA races. And once again, we’re playing catch up on that.”
The Dallas Express previously reported that Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot’s campaign received more than $400,000 in funding from George Soros—a prominent donor in left-wing campaigns.
Similarly, most elected leaders in Dallas County are known to be Democrats, including County Judge Clay Jenkins and every member serving on the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court.
However, in September, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced he is switching his political affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Johnson stated that the “future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism.”
West previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Florida, from January of 2011 to January of 2013. He later moved to Texas and was elected chair of the RPT in 2020. He then resigned from his position the following year to launch a primary bid against Gov. Greg Abbott.
During the interview with The Dallas Express, West said Dallas Republicans should elect him because he will help bring conservatives back to local positions, where residents have more of a voice.
“If you want to continue with the status quo where you don’t have a voice, you don’t have a Republican on the county commissioners court; you don’t have any of the major countywide offices, and not many of your municipalities and city council members or school boards — if you want to continue with that status quo, fine,” West said.
“I’m happy to continue on and do what I have been doing and be a voice. But I think that we can be the first county in a major urban population center … that can show we can turn this thing around, and we can lay out the blueprint whereby we say that the Left should not be able to come in here and force their policies in these areas,” he added.
West will face current Dallas County GOP Chair Jennifer Stoddard-Hadju, who is running for re-election.
The filing deadline for candidates to run is December 11.
The Republican primary election will be held March 5, 2024.
