Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Allen West speaks during an address to the 39th Conservative Political Action Committee in this file photo.
Tea Party-favorite Allen West, who narrowly lost his bid for a second term in Congress in the nation’s most expensive House race, has announced his next step: A political action committee known as the Allen West Guardian Fund.
West has plenty of money to get his new venture off the ground; he reported a campaign bank account balance of $940,574 at the end of last year, money he can roll over into the new PAC.
As a member of the House, West told constituents that about 80 House Democrats were “members of the Communist Party,” and defeat hasn’t quieted him. In his fundraising e-mail, he described President Barack Obama as someone who “does not tell the truth nor is he trustworthy.”
Having raised more than $19 million for his failed re-election, West’s new fundraising goals appear modest: $5 million to help elect 12 “hard-charging constitutional conservatives” who are either minority candidates, military veterans, or like himself, both.
“America is the land of the free and the home of the brave,” West wrote in an e-mail to supporters. “But which one will prevail over the next four years depends on you, me, and how we together fight to win the battle for our beloved country.”
West lost his re-election to Democrat Patrick Murphy by just 1,904 votes, one of the closest House races in the country.
