Florida House candidate signs up with LifeLock after Democratic screw-up

September 23, 2010 – 10:22 am

Florida House candidate and Republican Allen West has signed up for LifeLock after his Social Security number was released in a Democratic party mailer.

The mailer featured a copy of a 2005 tax lien against West, which bore his Social Security number. It also bore the employer identification number for West’s wife’s business. This information was mailed to thousands of voters.

West and his family members are in the process of obtaining new Social Security numbers, and purchased identity theft protection from LifeLock to provide additional and proactive protection.

West is running against Rep. Ron Klein (D-Boca Raton). Klein won his post over West in 2008. Although a spokesman for the Democratic Party has issued a formal apology to West, a spokesman for West and his family said the candidate and his family are offended by it, and West rejected an offer by the party to pay for two years of identity theft protection.

The mistake could work in West’s favor. Twenty percent of his district is over 65 years of age, and senior adults are often targeted by identity thieves.

West has released a new television advertisement, in which he calls Klein a “desperate politician.” He also says, “It makes me wonder what else Klein will do to me, or to you.”

West’s campaign is weighing its legal options.

This isn’t the first time such an incident has caused a stir in the political arena. In 2005, Maryland Democrats released the same information on Michael Steele, then the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. And in 2008, the Alaska Democratic Party revealed the Social Security number of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

West has called the matter an “unprecedented new low in American politics.”

For more information on LifeLock, go online at www.lifelock.com. Receive 30 days free and get a 10 percent discount on enrollment with the LifeLock Promo Code “Defense.”

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