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Sunday, Nov 11, 2012 7:21 PM UTC

Allen West still won’t concede

Despite failing to get enough votes to force a recount

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Topics: Patrick Murphy, 2012 Elections, Republicans, Allen West, Florida, , ,

Allen West still won't concedeThis Oct. 4, 2011 file photo shows Rep. Allen West, R-Fla. during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, File)

Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., refused to concede his reelection battle on Saturday, despite the latest tally of votes that show his opponent pulling ahead of the margin needed for an automatic recount.

Florida’s unofficial tally from Saturday shows Democrat Patrick Murphy ahead by 2,442 votes, 50.4 percent. State law mandates that those numbers be used to make a decision on a recount, despite a number of absentee ballots that still haven’t been counted.

From the AP:

Murphy declared victory early Wednesday morning and has held his lead ever since, even as thousands of absentee and provisional ballots were processed. He issued a statement Saturday saying it was time to put the campaign behind. He called his win a signal that voters were tired of the extremism West represented.

West’s campaign insists there are many unanswered questions in the race, mostly centered in St. Lucie County, the only one of three counties in the district that Murphy won. They are concerned that votes were counted twice and have asked to review sign-in books from the polls to ensure the number of voters matched the ballot count.

“We’re simply not going to just walk away from the race until we see that the numbers add up,” West’s campaign manager Tim Edson told the AP.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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