Larry Kilgore

Who is Larry Kilgore?

Larry SECEDE Kilgore is a Texas secessionist and perennial Republican candidate for various elected offices in Texas. He is considered one of the most prominent supporters of Texas secession. Interest in Kilgore and his ideas increased following the 2012 United States presidential election in which Democratic president Barack Obama was re-elected; Obama's re-election sparked a wave of petitions for secession on the White House's official website.

Kilgore, whose motto is "Secession! All other issues can be dealt with later" has never won a Republican primary. He ran for governor in 2006 and came second in the Republican primary behind Governor Rick Perry with 50,119 votes. He then ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and came second in the Republican primary behind Senator John Cornyn with 225,897 votes. He ran again for governor in 2014 but was not a factor in the March 4 nomination of fellow Republican Greg Abbott, the outgoing state attorney general, who hopes to succeed Perry in January 2015.

There are a number of different positions held by advocates of Texas's secession. Kilgore believes that Texas could leave the U.S. without permission from the federal government.