Florida Election Results 2012: Allen West Congressional Race to Be Recounted

Impact

Florida's St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections must have heard PolicyMic pundit Frank Hagler. The Democratic-leaning pundit, who confessed to want to see Representative Allen West (R-Fla.) lose "badly" in his 18th congressional district hotly contested race, is nonetheless defending the Republican congressman's right to a recount — but only in the name of democracy.  

And, in the name of fairness, West's push for a recount was granted on Friday when the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections ordered a retabulation of all eight days of early voting.

Democratic challenger Murphy, who declared victory last week, continues to have a slight lead over West — who has yet to concede the race. The Republican, who claims there were issues with the way ballots were counted, filed a complaint Tuesday hoping for an order court for the recounting of the votes. The court denied West's request, but a canvassing board ordered the retabulation.   

And Murphy's campaign is pushing back with an official statement by communications director Erin Moffet:

"The votes were counted on Election Day, recounted last Sunday, and this would be the third time many of these votes have been counted. You can't keep counting until you get the answer you like. The law is clear in what margin requires a recount and Patrick Murphy's lead is outside of that margin," said the statement.

To which West's campaign manager, Tim Edison, replied that Murphy's effort to stop the retabulation "demonstrates a complete lack of respect and utter disregard for the voters of St. Lucie County."