U.S. Representative Allen West, a first-term Republican backed by the Tea Party, conceded his race in Florida to Democrat Patrick Murphy after two weeks of challenging election results. “While a contest of the election results might have changed the vote totals, we do not have evidence that the outcome would change,” West said in the statement.
Murphy, a 29-year-old first-time candidate, won by 1,904 votes, or 0.58 percentage points. West, 51, had contested the results, which were outside the margin required for an automatic recount, accusing the St. Lucie County elections office of missteps in counting the ballots.
St. Lucie County Elections Supervisor Gertrude Walker said her office double-counted some ballots and failed to count others on election night. The office agreed to a partial recount, in which West picked up 535 votes. As the recount continued in the county, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, Murphy gained votes.
Murphy said West’s concession was “gracious.”
“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 said in a statement. “I am excited and honored to get to work.”
Tea Party Test
The race in one of Florida’s most evenly divided districts was a test of whether the tactics used successfully by the Tea Party in 2010 would work for incumbents, and whether a re- election campaign could be won with scant direct contact with voters. West held few public events and made little face-to-face contact with voters less than a month before Election Day, opting instead for advertising broadsides against Murphy.
One of West’s TV ads included Murphy’s mug shot from a 2003 arrest on charges, later dropped, of disorderly intoxication and possessing a fake driver’s license. The picture was set against one of West in military fatigues.
West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and one of two black Republicans in the House, raised $16.8 million, more than any candidate for the chamber except Speaker John Boehner. Murphy, vice president of a unit of his family-owned Coastal Construction Group Inc. of South Florida, raised $3.6 million
