PERSON: Allen West

Congressman (former)

Allen Bernard West (born February 7, 1961) is an American politician serving as the outgoing U.S. Representative for Florida’s 22nd congressional district. West took office in January 2011 as the first black Republican Congressman from Florida since Josiah T. Walls left office in 1876 near the end of Reconstruction.[4] Redistricting put West into Florida’s 18th congressional district for the 2012 election, where he was defeated in a close and expensive race by Democrat Patrick Murphy.

West was born in Georgia and joined the United States Army in 1983. He was deployed to Kuwait in 1991 and Iraq in 2003. West was allowed to retire as a lieutenant colonel after an Article 32 hearing and accepting an Non-judicial punishment.

After leaving the military he and his family moved to Florida where he taught high school for a year and worked for a defense contractor, part of his time spent in Afghanistan as a civilian adviser to the Afghan National Army.

West initially ran for office in 2008, and in 2010 he ran again defeating, incumbent Ron Klein to represent Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. West is a member of the Tea Party Caucus and has been referred to as one of the champions of the Tea Party movement.

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