The Dirtiest Political Race in America

The race for Florida’s 18th congressional district is one of the year’s most competitive and expensive. It may also go down as the ugliest. On the left is Democrat Patrick Murphy, a 29-year-old newcomer to politics and former accountant who’s now a vice president at his family’s construction company. On the right: the 51-year-old Republican incumbent Allen West, a retired U.S. Army officer and Tea Party star.

Since taking office in 2010, West has become known for lobbing rhetorical bombshells. He’s labeled President Obama supporters “a threat to the gene pool”; called 78 of his liberal colleagues in Congress communists; said Democratic leaders need to “get the hell out of the United States of America”; and sent an e-mail to U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, calling her “vile,” “despicable,” and “not a lady.” He also told her to “shut the heck up.”