Florida Rep. Allen West’s bid for reelection remained too close to call on Wednesday, as the tea party Republican trailed his Democratic opponent by fewer than 3,000 votes.
Patrick Murphy has 160,328 votes, or 50.4 percent, to West’s 157,782 votes, or 49.6 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press, which has yet to call the race.
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Murphy declared victory shortly after 1 a.m., according to TCPalm.com. West had yet to concede. Murphy’s .8 point lead is outside the .5 margin that would require a recount in the Sunshine State.
“Allen West was quite a character to run against,” Murphy said in his victory speech, according to the website. “And I’ll keep it at that, and hopefully that’s the last time I ever need to mention his name too.”
(See also: 2012 election results map)
The Palm Beach Post reports provisional and absentee ballots in Democratic-leaning Palm Beach County still need to be counted. Murphy’s campaign manager told the newspaper the outstanding ballots weren’t enough to overturn the results.
