Democrats Gear Up to Challenge Florida Rep. Allen West

Just three months into the 112th Congress, first-term Republican Rep. Allen West (FL-22) has already established himself as a powerfully polarizing figure. Less than two weeks after he took office, the DCCC targeted him with a radio ad buy, and several potential opponents are already gearing up to face him in 2012. However, his fundraising prowess and ability to rally the Republican base could make him difficult to unseat.
 
Indeed, the Center for Responsible Politics determined that the race between West and former Rep. Ron Klein was the second-most expensive race for a U.S. House seat in the 2010 cycle, with the candidates spending a combined $11.8 million. West ultimately triumphed with 54.4 percent of the vote.
 
Klein will not attempt to reclaim his seat in 2012, but two other Democrats have already declared their candidacies: West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and Ft. Lauderdale businessman Patrick Murphy. In an attempt to match West’s fundraising prowess, Frankel and Murphy are already busy raising funds in their own right.
 
Brian Franklin, president of Weston, Florida–based Impact Politics, who has signed on as Murphy’s communications director, says efforts to position Murphy as the most capable candidate are well underway. “He is a new face in politics and we are working to establish him,” says Franklin, adding that, as the vice president of an environmental cleanup firm, Murphy has the small business background that centrist Republicans and Democrats can get behind. “They probably share a lot of the same positions,” says Franklin. “I think it will come down to the kinds of experiences they have and how voters perceive those experiences.”
 
With regard to fundraising, Franklin envisions looking to sources both inside and outside the district to keep up with West. “As West makes himself a national candidate, we know that there are thousands if not millions that are vehemently opposed to the way he wants to operate this country and the way he practices politics in general,” says Franklin. “Perhaps the only way to beat West is to marshal the resources of those opposed to him nationally.”
 
In the Murphy campaign’s first few weeks, it has launched a Google text ad entitled “Stop Allen West,” which appears in West-related searches, and a Facebook page, “Patrick Murphy for Congress,” which is more positive and biographical.
 
Murphy’s Democratic rival, West Palm Beach Mayor Frankel, is much better known by Democrats in the district and may be difficult to defeat in a primary. She was first elected to the Florida Legislature in 1986 where she became one of the state’s most outspoken progressives. In 1992 she ran for Congress, but lost in the primary. Now term-limited as mayor of West Palm Beach, she has again set her eyes on the U.S. House.
 
Frankel’s campaign has engaged the Washington, D.C.–based 4C Partners, LLC and its partner, New Jersey–based Message & Media, to do strategic messaging and communications for her campaign. Brian Smoot, a 4C managing partner, served as Rep. Klein’s campaign manager in 2006 and his chief of staff until August 2007.
 
Given that the district is generally considered center left (having voted for Kerry in 2004 and Obama in 2008 and earning a Cook Partisan Index rating of D+1), West’s convincing victory over Klein came as something of a surprise. Democrats hope that the state’s new independent redistricting commission does not redraw the district in a way that dramatically alters its partisan makeup by including the more conservative inland communities.
 
With more than a year and a half to go before the general election, West appears to have popular support in his district on his side. A poll conducted by Viewpoint Florida, a Republican firm, taken at the end of March showed West leading Frankel 53 to 38 percent. The poll neglected to test Murphy against West.
 Noah Rothman is the online editor at C&E. E-mail him at nrothman@campaignsandelections.com