In Contested 50th Congressional District, Campa-Najjar, Issa Appear Headed For Runoff
Speaker 1: 00:00 The race to see who will replace Duncan Hunter in the house of representatives is one of the most closely watched races in the County. As we just heard from the register of voters, it will still take some time for all votes to be counted. But currently Democrat Amar camp in a jar is leading in the historically conservative 50th district, which includes East and North San Diego County camp. A new jar currently has 34% of the vote while Republican Daryl Eissa is in second place with 25% of the vote. If both of those results hold, it means camp in a jar and ISO will face a runoff. This November we invited both the candidates on our program. We did not hear back from Darryl Eissa. Johnny me is Democrat. Amar camped in a jar and welcome. Speaker 2: 00:43 Oh, thank you for having me. Speaker 1: 00:44 You were ahead in the polling of the 50th district is 34% is that outcome about what you were expecting? Speaker 2: 00:49 Yeah, something around there. It's 10% more than the second place. And, uh, you know, I'm pretty excited about our prospects because I've talked to a lot of people who support Brian Jones and Carl DeMaio and they all said I'd be their second choice. They just can't see themselves sending ice back to Washington. Their feeling is that he's been there for 20 years. What else can he do that he couldn't do in 20 years? Um, and really for me my focus is similar to Carl's in some ways where I'm a fighter and this just a fighter we need after being a fighter, we need a healer. Someone who could bring this district together. We've been through so much you've all chronicled it with Duncan Hunter leaving office and the way that he did, we don't have a Congressman now. There are so many urgent needs that we have to take care of. The moment I get into Congress, whether it's the cost of housing and living in healthcare, whether it's making sure we have more a relief for wildfires and make sure that our fire departments are fully staffed and funded. A whole host of issues that we have to hit the ground running and make up for the lost time. Speaker 1: 01:46 This time around though, the Republican vote, uh, was divided by three candidates, so it's likely going towards November. The Republican vote will be consolidated and that's going to give you an uphill battle. This is still a largely Republican conservative district. How do you plan to overcome that? Speaker 2: 02:04 Well, I think if you combine my votes with the other Democrat, that puts me at 40%, now I've got to find 10 more percent. I really do believe there are Brian Jones and crowd [inaudible] voters who will vote for me over Darryl. I said they don't see this race as the left versus the right. It's the political insiders versus the outsiders like us and East County. Even people who voted for Trump wanting something new, fresh and different. Eissa is a Relic of the past. He's the old version of, of the, of politics. We're trying to bring some new fresh blood to deal with these old problems in a new way. Speaker 1: 02:32 A practical question. Your election war chest is less than half that of Daryl ISIS. Now that you've made a good showing in the primary, are you expecting more support from the national democratic party Speaker 2: 02:43 and just grassroots people all across the district and the country? We've average donation we've received is $30 and we've raised over $2 million so we could replenish our funds very quickly with a small, a grassroots dollar campaign and we're going to out raise them the same way we out campaigned them. I'm confident we'll be able to do that Speaker 1: 03:00 and there's a lot of voters in this district who want to see someone earn this district the hard way, not just by this election and I'm in me. They have someone who will be a work horse, not just the show horse in Washington. I have been speaking with Mark camp ajar Democrat in the 50th district. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Joining me now is Mesa college political science professor and frequent KPBS political analyst Carl Luna. Welcome Carl. Good to be here. These have been incredibly tumultuous years for the voters in the 50th district. They've seen the Dunkin Hunter dynasty crash and burn. What effect do you think Dunkers indictment and that is Hunter's indictment, guilty plea and resignation has had on the district? Uh, it was somewhat demoralizing, I'm sure for his core supporters. It didn't do the party reputation, all that much good news. Speaker 1: 03:47 On 2018 a company's Yarra came close to winning that golden ticket to Congress. But you know, families have problems. The Republican party has packed off Duncan Hunter and now they're rallying behind Daryl ISO. The question will be, will the Carl de Mio supporters come out for him? The more popular supporters, because I say is as we heard in the interview, something of the swamp, a Relic of the past, he's not a new voice, but that district breaks so red, it could take another two or three election cycles before Democrats have a chance to take it. Um, our camp in a jar has been campaigning in the district now for about three years. He came out on top as we heard in the primary. How has his message been resonating with voters? I think he's laying out a pathway to the future. I'm not sure if he's going to be able to grab enough independence and mobilize enough Democrats to leave Republicans who sit at home on their hands to win. Speaker 1: 04:41 I mean, he got about 40% of the vote, but, and he outperformed what he did in the primary last time. But you don't have a damaged, uh, Duncan Hunter to run against. And all that being said, unless he can really paint Darryl ISO as a dinosaur, as a Relic of the old order. And unless the public is turning against the Trump administration, maybe coronavirus recession, whatnot, it's an uphill slog, but it's more possible than it's historically been in that district dyes. Darryl Eissa is however, a formidable adversary. He has more money. He has Washington experience. There are more Republicans in the 50th district even now. So how does a a Mark Anthony jr overcome that, if it can? Well, a Darryl Eissa is clearly the Goliath in this, in terms of the money, the reputation. But remember he fled the 49th or retired from the 49th district when it was a competitive race with Mark road. Speaker 1: 05:36 Mr 11 one that could dog him. He's a bit of what could be seen as a carpet bagger to the district. The Demio side might not want to support him with the hope he fails this time to take on that seat in 2022 there's a lot more machinations than you typically had when this was an established dynasty. We're now in the game of Thrones, part of that dynasty. And and what, how likely do you think it would be for the 50th to turn from red to blue this November? Uh, it's a low probability event, but if there is a huge blue wave of backlash against the current administration because up and down the ballot for Republicans, for better or worse, this is a Donald Trump referendum. It is the party of Trump. Darrell Eissa and Carl de Mio competed for who are the Trump used of Trump's. And if that brand goes sour, it could have down-ballot effects. Speaker 1: 06:21 But if this district goes, it means it's a route for the Democrats across the country. Let me change the subject for a minute about the length of time. We'll have to wait for the final results of this election. We heard from the register and Michael WVU that the large volume of mail in ballots and provisional ballots still need to be counted. But I saw a recent poll that most people don't mind waiting for election results as long as they're right. Do you agree with that? It's pundants you know, in in the news media that wants the fast one cause we got to feed the beast. We got to keep this cycle going and something to talk about. Uh, the price tag of trying to get more people to vote is that it's going to take a little bit longer. And I don't think that's a big issue down the pike, but there is an issue of momentum. Speaker 1: 07:05 For example, if it turns out that in somehow going into the next presidential primaries that in some of the States, Bernie Sanders did better or Joe Biden did better, it won't matter because the perception will be there moving forward. So at the state level with Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden that could have an impact at the local level. All of these were basically hitting us toward the runoffs. I don't think they're that important as long as people have confidence that balance are being cast and counted. I've been speaking with political analysts, professor Carl Luna, he'll be back with us later in the show. Thank you, Carl. Thank you.
