High price means high stakes for Rep. West

A House contest in coastal Florida, where GOP Rep. Allen West is running for reelection, is making it clear how explosive a race can be when a candidate evokes equally zealous feelings among supporters and opponents.

{mosads}Democrats are pining to take control away from West, a Tea Party-backed Republican who took over a centrist district in 2010 despite being a self-described conservative purist. Allen’s acerbic comments about race, religion and fellow politicians have made him one of the most polarizing figures in politics, but have also been major fundraising magnets.

Two Democrats vying to take on West announced solid third-quarter fundraising numbers on Tuesday that proved there is real support and commitment to launching an assault on the freshman congressman — until less than a day later, when West drenched their fires by dropping the news that he had outraised each of them 4 to 1.

West raised $1.9 million between July and September, bringing his total for the campaign to more than $4 million — an eye-opening number for a House race, even in Florida, where expensive media markets make campaigns pricey. 

“The people of the 22nd congressional district of Florida, along with Americans from across the United States, have heard our message and support a strong constitutional conservative in the House of Representatives,” West said in announcing his numbers.

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel (D) raised more than $415,000, while another Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy, raised $313,000. Both have raked in more than $1 million since they launched their campaigns, and have slightly less than that in cash on hand.

“Congressman Allen West’s challengers showed impressive fundraising results because of the tremendous grassroots support for taking this seat back from a congressman whose radical, Tea Party agenda is out of touch with independent voters in this swing district,” said Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Noticeably absent from West’s announcement was his cash-on-hand totals. Democrats note that West has spent heavily on direct mail and burned through campaign cash quicker than his Democratic opponents. In the second quarter of 2011, West raised about $1.5 million, but spent more than a half-million despite being about a year-and-a-half out from Election Day.

Caustic comments West has made about Islam, rejection of pluralism and Democrats have helped him cash in with the far right of the Republican base — and helped Democrats use his words against him to drum up exasperation among their donors. 

“Allen West symbolizes the divisive politics that is crippling Washington and preventing us from getting people back to work,” Frankel campaign manager Lindsay Zoeller said, asserting that Frankel had been a lucrative fundraiser because voters see her as the best candidate to end the stalemate that West is a part of in Congress.

In July, an email from West to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was leaked to the media. In the email, West called the Florida congresswoman “vile, unprofessional and despicable” and questioned her character as being “not a lady.”

Ironically, West actually lives in Wasserman Schultz’s district, although he represents a different district. West’s swath of Florida is a heavily gerrymandered area along the eastern end of the state that juts in and out from the coast like fingers.

And what the district will look like a year from now is inherently unclear due to the ongoing redistricting process that has left in limbo many candidates’ final decisions about in which districts they should run.

West’s first bid for the House was unsuccessful in 2008. Two years later, West won by 8 points over then-Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.).