Allen West loses congressional seat in super-tight race

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Controversial Tea Partier Rep. Allen West has lost his congressional seat in Florida despite running brutal ads against his opponent Democrat Patrick Murphy, and GOP efforts to redistrict him into a more favorable race.

West, who has consistently made headlines throughout his two years in office with his incendiary remarks about the president and his fellow legislators, was widely seen as a target for Democrats to regain a seat in the House.

NBC News called the race for Murphy early this morning after he took a lead of just over 1,000 votes against West.

This congressional race drew national attention when West used a mugshot of Murphy from a youthful indiscretion in one of his attack ads.

Although West reportedly raised $17 million for the race, he was unable to overcome the bad press he received for his outrageous statements, such as claiming there were 80 Communists within the Democratic caucus in Congress and comparing social security to slavery.