No Special Election To Replace Temecula's Rep. Duncan Hunter

TEMECULA, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced Wednesday there will be no special election to replace Rep. Duncan Hunter. The embattled Republican congressman who represents much of Temecula announced his resignation Tuesday.

"The governor's office received Rep. Hunter's resignation letter. Based on the timing of the resignation, a special election will not be called," said Vicky Waters, deputy director of media and public affairs in the governor's office.

The 50th Congressional District seat, which stretches into southwestern Riverside County, was already up for election this year. The primary will be held March 3, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the Nov. 3 general election.

The decision not to call a special election in the interim means the 50th District congressional seat will remain empty for about a year.

In a letter sent Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Newsom, Hunter — who pleaded guilty in December to a federal felony charge for misusing $250,000 in campaign funds — announced he will step down from his seat at the end of business Monday.

Despite his legal troubles, Hunter, who held the seat for 11 years, had been planning to seek another term in this year's regular election.

Former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who is running for the office, blasted the decision not to hold a special election, calling it a politically motivated move by a Democratic governor to leave vacant a seat in a historically conservative, Republican district. Prior to Hunter being elected, his Republican father held the seat for 28 years.

"It's outrageous and unconscionable that Gavin Newsom is leaving the 50th Congressional District without a member of Congress — their voice in Washington — for a full year," DeMaio said. "If this were a safe Democrat seat, you know damn well that the governor would have wanted it filled as soon as possible — but because this is a Republican seat, he couldn't care less about the voters in our district.

"By playing politics, Gavin Newsom is denying the fundamental right for these residents to have the voice they deserve in Congress."

Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democrat who narrowly lost to Hunter in the last election, is running for the 50th District seat again and he pushed back against DeMaio's comments.

In a tweet, Campa-Najjar said, "If Hunter and the party establishment weren’t worried I’d win a March 3 special election, he wouldn’t have waited until mid January to resign. Also, this seat doesn’t belong to the Republican or Dem party — it belongs to the people of #CA50. This November we’re taking it back."

Democrat Marisa Calderon is also running in the 50th. She was in the area Monday night stumping at VFW Post 1508. When news broke of Hunter's resignation less than 24 hours later, Calderon called it "a sad day for the 50th" and a "chance to finally move past the trail of Republican corruption."

—City News Service contributed to this report.