UPDATE: 8:37 a.m., June 8, 2016
Republican incumbent Darrell Issa could face a strong challenge in November. With 100 percent of precincts counted, Issa captured 51 percent of the vote and attorney Doug Applegate garnered 45 percent. Mail-in and provisional ballots have not yet been counted. Issa has held the seat for 16 years.
UPDATE: 12:39 a.m., June 8, 2016
Incumbent Darrell Issa, long dominant in his district, faced a surprisingly strong Democratic challenger as of Wednesday morning. With mail-in ballots and approximately half of precincts counted, Issa garnered 52 percent of the vote to attorney Doug Applegate's 44 percent. The two will go head-to-head in November.
UPDATE: 8:10 p.m. June 7, 2016
Vista Republican Darrell Issa is in the closest contest among San Diego County's five members of Congress. He has 54 percent of the vote to Democrat Doug Applegate's 43 percent.
Among the Democratic House incumbents, Scott Peters has 58 percent of the vote, Susan Davis 63 percent and Juan Vargas 65 percent. The other Republican, Rep. Duncan Hunter, has 58 percent of the vote.
All five will easily make November runoffs with their nearest challengers. In California, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, face off in November.
Original post:
Four of San Diego County's five congressional districts have been drawn in such way that they ensure the incumbents will almost certainly win re-election.
Only the 52nd Congressional District, represented by Democrat Scott Peters, is competitive. The voters there are about a third Democratic, a third Republican and a third nonpartisan.
That means the county's four other House members — Democrats Susan Davis and Juan Vargas of San Diego, Republican Darrell Issa of Vista and Republican Duncan Hunter of Alpine — will likely come out on top in Tuesday's election and face the next top vote-getter in the November general election.
The county's congressional incumbents routinely win with 60 percent to 70 percent of the vote. This November's election night is widely expected to end that way, too.
49th District
Darrell Issa, 63, failed in his first bid for public office, a seat in the U.S. Senate, but he has had nothing but success since running for a House of Representatives seat that opened up when Ron Packard retired. He won the seat in 2000. Issa is one of Congress’ wealthiest members. He made his personal fortune selling car security systems.
Issa has two challengers.
Doug Applegate is an attorney. The 63-year-old Democrat retired from the Marines after 32 years of service.
Ryan Glenn Wingo is running as an independent. The 34-year-old student says he enjoys walking, reading, music, movies and smoking cannabis. He has never held public office.
The 49th Congressional District includes Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista and San Clemente.
50th District
Duncan D. Hunter has held this congressional seat since 2008 when he replaced his father, Duncan L. Hunter. The younger Hunter, who serves in U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, has faced some public scrutiny this election because of irregular campaign spending. An independent audit of the congressman’s campaign finances is underway.
Hunter has four challengers.
Patrick Malloy is a 49-year-old real estate agent who is backed by the San Diego County Democratic Party.
Dave Secor is a retired San Diego County Superior Court clerk. The 68-year-old Democrat earned a bachelor's degree from SDSU. He has run for this seat before and lost by a wide margin.
H. FUJI Shioura is an independent candidate. The 44-year-old unsuccessfully ran for Congress four years ago in Illinois.
Scott Meisterlin is a retired attorney who is on the ballot as a Republican. The 59-year-old counts sports and politics as major interests.
The 50th Congressional District includes Alpine, Ramona, Julian, Borrego Springs, Escondido and Temecula.
51st District
Juan Vargas was elected to replace Bob Filner, who quit Congress to run for San Diego mayor. Filner was elected mayor, and then was bounced out of office in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal. Vargas had served in state government and the San Diego City Council before being elected to Congress.
Vargas has three challengers.
Juan Mercado Flores is a deputy sheriff who is running against Vargas. He is a Democrat.
Carlos Sanchez, a pediatrician and a Republican.
Juan Hidalgo Jr, a Republican, is retired from the U.S. Marine Corps.
The 51st Congressional District includes Chula Vista, Campo, Boulevard, Jacumba, Calexico, El Centro, Imperial and Brawley.
53rd District
Susan Davis, 72, has served the same geographical region since she was elected to Congress 15 years ago, but the district was changed from the 49th and to the 53rd the last time political boundaries were drawn in 2010.
Davis has two challengers.
Jim Ash is a small-business owner. The 44-year-old Republican graduated from SDSU with a degree in management information systems.
James Veltmeyer, 48, is the chief of the department of family medicine at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. He is a Republican.
The 53rd Congressional District includes La Mesa, El Cajon, Spring Valley and Bonita.
