A Florida judge on Friday denied Republican Rep. Allen West’s request for a recount of early votes in one key county, throwing a wrench into his effort to challenge the count that showed him losing to Democrat Patrick Murphy.
Attorneys for the Tea Party-backed congressman, who was elected in the 2010 Republican wave, argued that all 37,000 ballots cast during early voting in St. Lucie County should be recounted.
St. Lucie County officials originally recounted just three days of early voting — from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3 — following the discovery that machines doubled counted some ballots.
West reportedly gained 132 votes and Murphy lost 667 in the recount Sunday of 16,275 votes. But unofficial returns still showed Murphy ahead of West by just over 1,900 votes in the 18th District.
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