Congressional Race Sports Dirty Tactics
MIAMI (CBS4) - It has been called one of the country's bellwether races and its outcome could help determine who controls the U.S. Congress in January.
So its no wonder the race between Democratic Congressman Ron Klein and conservative Republican challenger Allen West is so tough.
From political ads to political stunts the battle for the 20th Congressional District is down and dirty.
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"Well I think the contention and the dirt has been from his side," Allen West said. "I think that when you look at our advertisements we've been talking about the issues."
Klein points the finger the other way.
"I think the race has been contentious," he said. "My opponent for three years has been criticizing me, running for three years. He's been calling me names and all sorts of things like that."
But the battle goes beyond name calling. West said his opponent mailed out his financial records that have his Social Security number written on it.
The mailings went to thousands of voters.
"It was a very traumatic weekend," West said. "If you want to talk about the type of person you want to send to Washington D.C., I don't think that's the type of person you want to send."
But Klein said he had nothing to do with the mailing.
"It was done by the Florida Democratic party," Klein said. "I found out the same day he did because he put it out there, and as soon as I found out, I picked up the phone, I called the Florida Democratic party and I told them in no uncertain terms 'You get a hold of Mr. West and you take responsibility for that, and you do what is necessary to protect his Social Security number."
Even though Klein said the mailing was not his fault he is urging voters to take a close look at West's financial history. He said if West can not manage his own personal finances, he will not be able to hold the nation's purse strings.
"He had a tax lien," Klein said. "He had three credit card liens of people filed suit against him in his neighborhood that have filed suit against him for homeowners association and failure to pay his bills."
West maintains everything has been paid off.
"It's probably that elitist aspect where they look at people," West said. "You know all Americans have some issues and all Americans have problems, but we work through them and I think that's the most important thing that people need to know about me."
West added finances are not Klein's strong point, either.
Klein voted to bail out the financial industry.
"It's easy for Mr. West to look back with rose colored glasses," Klein said. "But when that event was occurring, President Bush, this treasury secretary came before us and said if we didn't pass that bill, this economy would go into a depression and I don't play games with people's lives or play games with the future of our country."
Democrat Klein was elected in 2006 toppling the decades-long tenure of Republican Clay Shaw. The race between West and Klein is expected to be a close one.
West is a retired military man with extremely conservative principals. As an African-American he said others should not think it is unusual for him to run as a Republican.
"The first black members of the house and the senate after during the reconstruction period were Republicans and we've got to reconnect the Republican party back to the black community," West said. "Because on Sunday the most conservative people in the United States of America sit in black churches."
