Allen West.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Michele Bachmann may have just barely survived last night, but a fellow member of the Insane Republican Congressman caucus, Florida’s Allen West, looks like he’s just barely headed to defeat. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, but with some provisional and absentee ballots yet to be counted, West trails political newcomer Patrick Murphy by .74 percent, or 2,456 votes. Murphy’s campaign has declared victory, while West has yet to concede and is demanding a recount in one county which he claims has shown “hostility and demonstrated incompetence.” However, in Florida, recounts are triggered when the winning margin is .5 percent or less, not when a candidate wants one really bad.
