Allen West, Republican Congressman From Florida, Concedes 2 Weeks After The Election By Matt Sedesky | 11/20/12 07:51 AM ET EST Excerpts: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Tea party firebrand Rep. Allen West conceded his re-election fight Tuesday, two weeks after the election gave way to court appearances, two partial recounts and unending accusations by his camp that the vote count wasn't fair. In a statement, the Republican freshman said "there are certainly still inaccuracies in the results" but not enough to change the outcome, giving the race to Democratic newcomer Patrick Murphy. Murphy campaign manager Anthony Kusich said he was not aware of any concession call to his candidate, simply an e-mail that was publicly distributed. In his own statement, Murphy said he was "humbled by Congressman West's gracious concession" and eager to get to work on behalf of all voters. "To those who supported my opponent, my door is open and I want to hear your voice," Murphy said. "I campaigned on a message of reaching across the aisle to get things done for the people of the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches, and that is as important in this district as it is in Washington." Murphy declared victory in the wee hours of Election Night and has held his lead ever since, even as thousands of absentee, provisional and overseas ballots were processed and two partial recounts undertaken. But West's campaign kept up a stream of skepticism about the results, largely focused on St. Lucie County, where elections officials acknowledged missteps. An initial recount of some early ballots in St. Lucie gave West a slight bump. His campaign fought for a fuller recount, and received it, but it only improved Murphy's margin of victory. He won by more than 2,000 votes. Whatever the next step, the contest between Murphy and West will go down as one of the most expensive in congressional history. Murphy eked out the win though he was out-fundraised more than four-to-one. West, 51, is a favorite among the most conservative reaches of the Republican Party. He has made a string of headline-grabbing statements, from calling a majority of congressional Democrats communists to saying President Barack Obama, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and others should "get the hell out of the United States." Murphy, 29, portrayed West as an extremist who had done little else in Washington than stoke partisan fires. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/allen-west-concedes_n_2163837.html?utm_hp_ref=politics ..... Allan West is a typical Tparty trouble-maker, an extreme partisan that did nothing at all in his tenure except issue explosive statements against the Democrats, and it is very fair that a Democrat, Patrick Murphy, beat him in the election. Murphy pulled out to a lead early in the election and held that lead thru 2 weeks of counting thousands of absentee, provisional and overseas ballots were processed and two partial recounts undertaken, plus court appearances. Finally, after two weeks of counting ballots, endless recounts, West finally isued an e-mail without the usual concession call to his successor. West was vehemently stating that the election wasnt fair, even as Murphy declared victory, and this race turned out to be one of the most expensive elections in congressional history. West was well funded by the various Tparty factions with a margin of four-to-one to Murphys fund raising, but Murphy still won.
West outspent Murphy about 5 to 1 also, but West was a right-wing extremist, and enough voters saw that.
West strikes me as a genuine phsycopath. Very happy this dangerous extremist has been relieved of office. I wonder what kind of crazy sex contracts he will draw up for his wife now that he has so much free time.
Great. We lose an honest Congressman in West in one district and morons bring Alan Grayson back in another? Democrats have cornered the moron vote. "He may be a scumbag, but he's our scumbag" - Random Democratic voter.
Why did the GOP intentionally gerrymander Allen West out of a district? They controlled the redraw Only they are to blame One can only conclude it was yet another middle finger from the establishment to the tea party faction
It is disappointing Allen West lost, it was very hard for him to fight both the Democrats and the establishment Republicans. The establishment Republicans were a bigger enemy to West than the Democrats were. John Boehner had the Republican party of Florida redistric West's district so it would guarentee a loss. I am not worried about West, he will run again, and he will be back. As for Boehner, he made sure that Michele Bachman got no funds, but she still managed to win. I absolutely HATE John Boehner, he is not a real Republican. He is a spineless, backstabbing coward. When it comes to taking a position against Democrats, John Boehner has been very consistent - grabbing his ankles and telling Democrats to start kicking. While I detest Nancy Pelosi, I do respect her tenacity, but then again, it is easy for her to have tenacity since the media is a SuperPac for the Democrat Party. But, Nancy never backed down, gotta give her that. As for Boehner, I am already planning on donating money to whatever Democrat runs against him 2014, the best thing that can happen to the Republican party is for Boehner to be on the outside looking in, it would be one less coward, that is for sure.
