Temecula's Crazy 50th Congressional District Race

TEMECULA, CA — It's been a wild ride in California's 50th Congressional District. As the state's March 3 Presidential Primary Election approaches, big personalities and some chaos are hard to overlook in the Republican-stronghold district that encompasses the southern edge of Southwest Riverside County and central and northeastern regions of San Diego County.

Here's a snippet of some of the 50th's cast of characters — former and present.

Where else to begin but with Republican Duncan D. Hunter who resigned the 5oth District seat last month? He is set to be sentenced March 17, facing a maximum of five years in prison. Hunter and his wife were indicted in August 2018 on five dozen criminal counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records. He initially pleaded not guilty to the count alleging he misused $250,000 in campaign funds for personal uses ranging from vacations to extramarital affairs to a plane ticket for his wife's pet rabbit, but changed his plea to guilty in December.

Despite being indicted, Hunter won reelection to the 50th seat in 2018 in a hotly contested race that pitted him against Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar. Although Hunter bested his opponent and snagged a sixth term, he did so by the slimmest of margins with just 51.7 percent of the vote.

Hunter remains on the ticket this election season, despite his conviction. It's a sad political ending for the U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan and began his congressional career in 2009 by succeeding his famous father, also named Duncan Hunter, who represented the region for nearly 30 years.

As for Hunter junior's 2018 rival Campa-Najjar, he is running for the seat again this year and is the Dem's only shot at flipping the red district after Democratic hopeful Marisa Calderon announced late last month that she was suspending her campaign in the 50th.

During the 2018 congressional contest, the famously dashing Campa-Najjar emerged as a real contender and gained support from young voters thanks in large part to his outreach campaign and his age. He will turn 31 on Feb. 24.

A very familiar face vying this year for the 50th is former congressman Darrell Issa. In September, the Republican stalwart announced he was entering the race during a news conference that included El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, then Temecula Mayor Matt Rahn, former Escondido Mayor Sam Abed and former U.S. Navy SEAL Larry Wilske, who were all running for the seat before Issa's big announcement.

All four candidates elected to drop out of the race and throw their support behind Issa.

Once a powerful member of Congress, Issa might be best remembered for his role in the antagonistic hearings related to the 2012 attack on a United States compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Issa had represented the 49th District but declined a reelection run in 2018 after narrowly holding onto the seat in the 2016 election. In September 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Issa to be the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

Another familiar face in the 50th race is Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, who also launched his 50th bid in September. Jones said he entered the race to "provide a trusted, conservative voice." Prior to serving as a state senator, Jones served in the Assembly and as a member of the Santee City Council.

Former San Diego City Councilman and Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio announced his candidacy for the 50th seat last summer. He's another Republican trying to grab the only GOP-held congressional seat in San Diego County. His political resume is long, and he will go down in history as San Diego City Council's first openly gay man to sit on the dais. He's also a radio personality, joining San Diego's KOGO Radio in 2015. These days, he has his own podcast, "The Carl DeMaio Show."

Along with Campa-Najjar, there's another young face in the crowd — Republican Nate Wilkins. A military veteran, in early 2019 he joined the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee as an Innovation Fellow.

Other candidates on the ballot for the 50th congressional seat include Jose Cortes, Peace and Freedom party; Helen L. Horvath, No Party Preference; Henry Alan Ota, No Party Preference; and Lucinda Kwh Jahn, No Party Preference.