Democrat Appears to Defeat Allen West

Tea party favorite Allen West appeared to be heading for defeat in one of 2012’s nastiest election brawls.

The Florida Republican was down by some 3,000 votes after all ballots in the Sunshine State’s 18th District had been counted.

However he has yet to concede to Democrat Patrick Murphy and it is unclear whether a recount will be needed, The Hill reported.

West has often been seen as a lightning rod during his freshman term in the House, at one point asserting that some 80 members of the House are communists and at another calling Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz “vile.”

During the race West issued an ad reminding voters that while he was preparing to serve in Iraq, Murphy was arrested in a bar brawl. One of Murphy's ads showed a caricature of West — an African American — punching an elderly white woman in the mouth.

West vastly outspent his opponent — by $17 million to less than $4 million according to the Center for Responsive Politics — in his bid for a second term in the House.