‘Alive by the grace of God’: Texas GOP chairman candidate Allen West injured in motorcycle crash

Allen West, the former Florida congressman and recent candidate to chair the Texas Republican Party, is recovering with his family after he was seriously hurt in a motorcycle crash outside Waco on Saturday.

West was in stable condition Sunday morning after the crash, which left him with a concussion, several fractures and multiple lacerations, according to an update on Facebook.

“I am alive by the grace of God,” he said in a written statement Sunday.

West was on his way from Austin, where he led the Texas Freedom Rally on Saturday morning at the Texas Capitol.

The event called for further reopening the state amid the coronavirus pandemic. Before the event, he was expected to lead a caravan of motorcycles and cars from Dallas to Austin.

A written statement from West’s office, citing law enforcement, said he had been on his motorcycle when a car cut him off and caused him to crash into another motorcyclist.

He was airlifted to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center — Hillcrest in Waco.

Sgt. Ryan Howard, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said troopers had been called about 5 p.m. Saturday to the crash in the city of West on northbound Interstate 35.

The other motorcyclist, who wasn’t named, was taken to the same hospital and did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

A post on the former congressman’s Facebook page said his team expects he’ll be released from the hospital Monday.

“Thank you for your prayers and support,” the post said. “He will be taking a week off to recoup and looks forward to seeing you all again soon.”

West, a retired Army colonel, considered a run against U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, last summer. In July, he set his sights instead on a bid against James Dickey for the Texas GOP chair, saying that serving in that role would have been a better way to contribute to political discourse.