Is the Race Over???

Amanda Walters

amanda.n.walters@gmail.com

Twitter: @amandawalters

Nearly two weeks after the election and after all the ballots have been counted and recounted, the final races are finally over – or at least that’s what it seems. While most people have moved on, one race has been too close to call.

The race for the House of Representatives Florida’s 18^th Congressional District is one of the closest of the election season with a difference of 0.58 percentage points between the two candidates.

That number may seem really close but it’s still more than the 0.50 percent that is needed to trigger an automatic recount.

This congressional seat isn’t a stranger to controversy. It is currently held by Rep. Allen West, who is an outspoken member of the Tea Party who was first elected in 2011.

West is known for making many outlandish statements since being elected to the House including an incident at a town-hall meeting where he said "I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party” and remarks on Islam.

Although most news organizations have not called the race, his challenger has declared victory in the race for the second time, after one county missed its deadline to certify results. According to Florida, the unofficial results now stand. Despite West not conceding the race, she is already in Washington DC for freshman orientation.

West’s campaign is calling for an emergency hearing because of what it believes is problems that were raised in the voting process. They have also filed a large number of legal complaints in order to get a recount.

This is a story that I knew about but pretty much thought had been decided already until I read the article. By using this story, CBS reminds us just how contested this election really was and shows us that while many people have already moved on, for some the election still isn’t over.