"MIAMI (Reuters) - Tea
Party-backed Republican U.S. Representative Allen West said he was
still not ready to concede defeat on Sunday, almost two weeks after the November
6 election, when the clock ran out on a partial recount in South Florida.
Results showing West trailing Democratic challenger Patrick
Murphy by 1,900 votes were expected to be turned over to the state
Division of Elections to be ratified on Tuesday.
West was granted a recount of early ballots
in St. Lucie County
during the weekend, but officials were unable to complete the process before
time ran out at midday on Sunday.
"Today at noon, it became clear Patrick Murphy will be
officially certified as the next congressman from the 18th Congressional
District," said Murphy's campaign manager, Anthony Kusich. "It is beyond time to put
this campaign behind us."
Under Florida law in the event of an
incomplete recount the original returns are automatically submitted for
certification. St. Lucie County officials went ahead and completed the recount
later on Sunday, extending Murphy's lead to 2,100 votes.
"This election is far from over," West's
campaign manager, Tim Edson, said in a statement that called the results "highly
suspect."
"We will continue to fight on behalf of all
voters in District 18 to ensure a fair and accurate count of their votes," he
added, without saying how the campaign planned to challenge the result. [Source]
I guess there is still hope for the American people. If the people of Florida's 18th Congressional District had sent this man back to Washington I would be seriously worried.
This defeat is hard for Allen West to accept because he made the wrong calculation about selling out. Like Artur Davis and others, he thought that being a sell out would guarantee him a place in Washington as long as he wanted it. Fortunately the people (black and white) who vote in his district were able to see him for what he really is: A charlatan who made outrageous statements to appeal to a far right group of people who are out of touch with the rest of the country. The GOP outspent Patrick Murphy 17-1 and their boy still lost.That ought to tell you something about Allen West.
Still, the GOP infighting continues; tea party types like Mr. West on one side, and the GOP establishment on the other.
"...conservative columnist Michael Barone told an audience at Hillsdale College's center in Washington that the tea party, while bringing some talented politicians to the fore, also brought some "wackos and weirdos and witches." [Source]
He forgot to mention jiggers.
*Pic from hinterlandgazette
