CA-50: Whether national Republicans like it or not, Rep. Duncan Hunter is officially running for re-election. Hunter also got some good news hours before the Friday filing deadline when conservative radio host Carl DeMaio announced that he wouldn't challenge him after all. And while neighboring Rep. Darrell Issa didn't rule out trying to stay in Congress by taking on Hunter, he didn't file either. The only prominent Republican who ended up filing was El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells. It's far from clear who will advance past the top-two primary, or what parties will even be represented in the general election.
This inland San Diego County seat backed Trump 55-40, and this area has been represented by someone named Duncan Hunter since 1981: Duncan Lee Hunter was a congressman until he retired in 2008 as he waged a quixotic presidential run; his son. Duncan Duane Hunter, won with ease and is the seat's current occupant. However, the younger Hunter is under FBI investigation for allegedly misusing campaign money for personal things, including a $600 flight for his family's pet rabbit. Hunter recently suggested that his wife, who is also his former campaign manager, was to blame for misusing the campaign credit card, saying, "You can see where I was during the transactions ... and you can draw your conclusion." However, the San Diego Union-Tribune reviewed his social media posts and found Hunter was regularly present with his family when those allegedly improper transitions occurred.
Politico also recently reported that "many people close to the congressman" believe that Hunter had an affair with a lobbyist, and some congressional aides speculated that he was intoxicated when he angrily confronted Speaker Paul Ryan in December. Hunter's fundraising has slowed to a crawl, and he's been spending heavily on legal fees. However, none of this stopped the state party from endorsing Hunter.
Hunter's intra-party foes will want to see if Wells can give the embattled congressman a strong challenge. However, only about 7 percent of this district covers El Cajon (about half the city is in the neighboring 53rd District), so it's unclear how much name recognition Wells begins with. It's also not clear if there are major Republicans in the district who are pulling for Wells, or if they've accepted that Hunter will be their nominee again. One little-known Republican is also in.
Democrats haven't seriously targeted this seat in a long time, but two noteworthy candidates are in. Josh Butner, a retired Navy SEAL and local school board member, has received donations from some senior House Democrats, while former U.S. Labor Department official Ammar Campa-Najjar has the endorsement of the state Democratic Party. At the end of December, Campa-Najjar had a small $299,000 to $277,000 cash-on-hand lead over Butner. Patrick Malloy, who lost to Hunter 63.5-36.5 in 2016, is also in, as is one independent.