Former Rep. Allen B. West said on Wednesday he would consider a run against Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2016 Republican primary in Florida.
He said on WMAL radio that he would run for the Senate seat “if I see people that are not taking our country down the right path, if I see people that are not standing up for the right type of principles and putting their own party politics before what is best for the United States of America.”
One of his concerns: immigration legislation pushed by Mr. Rubio as a “whole comprehensive thing … up to 1,075 pages, [and] once again, the American people don’t trust that,” he said, as The Hill reported.
When asked if he would rule out a run against Mr. Rubio, Mr. West said: “Chirping … chirping … chirping. And we’ll see what happens down the pike. God will set my feet on the right path,” The Hill reported.
Mr. West lost his re-election bid for the House in 2012. And he said a race for Mr. Rubio’s seat could prove equally daunting.
“That’s a pretty heavy lift because you’re talking about running against a sitting senator, and then, of course, that creates that schism that the other side would love to see happen,” he said in The Hill.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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