Former U.S. Rep. Allen West said Wednesday that he hasn't ruled out a challenge to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, even as the former congressman acknowledged that it would be a difficult and expensive road to take.
West, a favorite of conservatives who lost his House seat in 2012, said he'd draw on his faith to make a decision on a future political contest.
"We'll see what happens down the pike," West said on WMAL's "Morning at the Mall" radio show. "God will set my feet on the right path."
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West has ruled out running for the House again in 2014 while Rubio is considered a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, the same year as his first term as senator ends.
When host Larry O'Connor prompted him about what might make him step up to national politics again, West responded, "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."
West acknowledged a Senate bid against a popular incumbent would present problems: "That's a pretty heavy lift, because you're talking about running against a sitting senator, and then, of course, that creates the schism that the other side would love to see happen."
But O'Connor pushed back, noting that Rubio himself had done something similar when the Miami native ran against sitting Gov. Charlie Crist in the 2010 Senate primary.
Crist, once a rising star in the GOP, both in Florida and nationally, later pulled out of the primary race to stand as an independent in the general election,
where he was handily defeated by Rubio.
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