Rep. West concedes House race to challenger Murphy, won't contest election results Republican Rep. Allen West says he is conceding the race for Florida's 18th district to Democrat Patrick Murphy two weeks after the election. Appearing on "Fox and Friends" early Tuesday, the first-term Congressman said his campaign is not going to challenge the results of the election, despite its earlier concerns over alleged voting irregularities and calls for a recount. "While many questions remain unanswered, today I am announcing that I will take no further action to contest the outcome of this election," West said in a statement. The campaign's announcement comes after election officials in St. Lucie County missed a deadline Sunday to report results of a two-day partial recount of early votes. This means that earlier submitted results favoring Murphy will be certified unless an emergency exemption is granted by the state. West said he decided the legal battle his campaign would need to wage in order to contest the official election results ultimately proved too costly. "Given the extremely high evidentiary hurdles involved in a successful challenge, I will not ask my generous supporters to help fund a drawn-out, expensive legal effort with little chance of success," he said. West tells Fox News the decision was not a rough one, saying "leaders don't need a title to be able to lead." He said his immediate plans include enjoying Thanksgiving with his family.