Tea Party congressman Rep. Allen West demanded a recount today in his nail-bitingly close re-election race with Patrick Murphy. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Murphy has a lead of less than 3,000 votes. West’s campaign issued a statement:
Late last night Congressman West maintained a districtwide lead of nearly 2,000 votes until the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections ‘recounted’ thousands of early ballots. Following that ‘recount’ Congressman West trailed by 2,400 votes …
The St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections office clearly ignored proper rules and procedures, and the scene at the Supervisor’s office last night could only be described as complete chaos. Given the hostility and demonstrated incompetence of the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, we believe it is critical that a full hand recount of the ballots take place in St. Lucie County. We will continue to fight to ensure every vote is counted properly and fairly, and accordingly we will pursue all legal means necessary.
West has committed to pushing this battle into the courts if necessary.