Nov 3, 2010 12:41 am US/Eastern
Voters Flip District 22; Elect Allen West
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
http://cbs4.com/campaign2010/allen.west ... 93515.html



Just a few years after flipping the 22nd Florida Congressional District to the Democratic Party, voters have flipped it back to Republican by electing Allen West to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The race was especially tough and featured attack ad after attack ad from both candidates. But the battle went beyond name calling. West said his opponent mailed out his financial records that have his Social Security number written on it.

The mailings went to thousands of voters, but Klein said he had nothing to do with the mailing. Even though Klein said the mailing was not his fault; he is urging voters to take a close look at West's financial history.

He said if West cannot manage his own personal finances, he will not be able to hold the nation's purse strings. West maintains everything has been paid off.

West said finances were not Klein's strong point, either. Klein voted to bail out the financial industry. West is also a former member of the military, but was also loosely linked to a motorcycle gang.

Democrat Klein was originally elected in 2006 toppling the decades-long tenure of Republican Clay Shaw. The race between West and Klein was expected to be a close one, but West won by a decent margin at the end of the night.