Former congressman Allen West is leaving South Florida and moving to Texas to lead a prominent free-market think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis.
West becomes CEO of the organization in January. He and his family will relocate to Dallas in May when his daughters graduate from high school and college,
Florida’s Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported.
Prior to serving in Congress, West served more than 20 year in the U.S. military. He fought in Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 U.S. military campaign to drive Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army out of Kuwait, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 U.S. campaign to remove Saddam from power, where he served as battalion commander for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division.
West, who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and retired in 2004, later went to Afghanistan where he trained Afghan officers to defend their own country.
In 2010, West, a Republican and favorite of tea party activists, defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Ron Klein to win election to Congress in the 22nd Congressional District representing Broward and Palm Beach counties. After the Florida Legislature made substantial changes during redistricting, West decided to run in the newly drawn 18th District. In what turned out to be one of the most hotly contested House races in the country in 2012, Democrat Patrick Murphy edged West by a fraction of a percentage point.
Since leaving Congress, West has written a book, established a political action committee, and become a Fox Ness contributor.
"I am humbled and honored to have this opportunity to lead one of the country’s pre-eminent think tanks," West said in a
news release announcing his selection to head the National Center for Policy Analysis. "I have long admired the NCPA’s innovative research in health care, tax reform, entitlements, retirement, energy, and environmental and education policy."
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