In a rematch from 2008, Allen West knocked out U.S. Rep. Ron Klein to return South Florida's 22nd Congressional District to Republican control. Tuesday's vote was almost an exact reversal of the tally two years ago.
West, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, toppled Klein, D-Boca Raton, in a combative race that saw both candidates lobbing personal attacks via the airwaves.
Klein received late help from the National Education Association and Democrats staged a massive get-out-the-vote drive, with campaign workers making more than 100,000 phone calls and knocking on more than 46,000 doors over the weekend. Fellow Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, even pitched in funds from his campaign war chest.
But none of that was enough, and Grayson lost his own re-election bid in the 8th Congressional District as Republicans reclaimed House seats across Florida and around the country.
West, who garnered support from the tea party movement and surpassed Klein in fund-raising, tapped into growing concerns about government spending, Obamacare and the struggling economy.
His message resonated in the swing district where a Sunshine State News Poll on Oct. 19 showed the Republican winning 47-44.
Republican Rep. Clay Shaw represented CD 22 for 26 years before he was ousted by Klein in 2006.
But Klein, along with other congressional Democrats, ran into a buzz saw this year, as Republicans attacked them for kow-towing to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and an increasingly unpopular President Barack Obama.
The outcome of the race was delayed until well past midnight because of slow vote counting in Palm Beach County. West carried Broward County.
Speaking to a raucous crowd of supporters at the Marriott Hotel in Boca Raton late Tuesday night, a hoarse West called the campaign "the culmination of three years" and "the triumph of our individual spirit."
Klein, ensconced at the Embassy Suites with a far smaller gathering, was not immediately available for comment.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
