|
 |
 |
|
Dem Murphy still leads Rep. West after partial recount in House race
A partial recount of votes in St. Lucie County, Fla., showed a net gain in votes for Rep. Allen West (R), but not enough to trigger a full recount or push the Tea Party favorite ahead of Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy in the overall count.
The total number of votes for both candidates dropped, but even though Murphy lost more votes than West, the Democrat held on to his overall lead, The Associated Press reported Sunday.
West's reelection campaign complains that even though he trails by 2,442 votes against Murphy, a number of early votes were not being factored into the partial recount.
"What's going on today is a sham. It does nothing to address all the concerns we have," West campaign manager Tim Edson said according to the AP. "We'll take every legal action necessary."
Murphy was named the winner in the congressional race on Wednesday and has kept a lead as more absentee and provisional ballots were counted afterward, according to The Associated Press. But West's campaign has refused to concede the race and argued that there's reason to believe the original vote count is inaccurate.
The vote gap between the two candidates was too large to trigger a recount, but St. Lucie County agreed to a partial recount to address concerns over the tallying of some early voting ballots.
According to Florida law, West can still resist the election results by going to court to argue that voter fraud altered the election's outcome.
Sean Domnick, an attorney for Murphy, said that the West campaign had “got what they wanted.”
"It's time to step aside and let Patrick Murphy do the business of the people," he said, according to the AP.
The fiercely contested House race was one of the most expensive in the country, with the candidates and outside groups spending $23 million in the district.
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
