Facing a potentially messy trial over alleged systematic campaign finance violations, Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter is expected to plead guilty and resign the San Diego seat he has held for 11 years.
Last year, Hunter was charged with 60 criminal counts accusing him and his wife and former campaign treasurer of using more than $250,000 in campaign contributions for personal expenses; including groceries, dental bills, golf outings and weekend getaways with a woman other than his wife.
Hunter, a former Marine who initially dismissed the indictment as a political witch hunt, told KUSI “It’s important not to have a public trial for three reasons, and those reasons are my kids.”
Hunter’s ex-wife Margaret, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in June, acknowledged using $500 to cover the cost of flying the family pet rabbit, Eggburt, across the country. That allegation careened across the Twittersphere when it was first revealed.
Hunter, whose 50th congressional district is heavily Republican, squeaked by Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar in the midterm election last year, even as he was under indictment.
“Duncan Hunter’s legal liabilities were the only thing that created a political vulnerability for Republicans in this district,” said UC San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser. “Remember, this is a district that Donald Trump carried by 15 percentage points.”
He was already facing at least two well-known Republican challengers with grim prospects for winning another term.
Conservative talk show host Carl DeMaio has $1.2 million in the bank for a campaign against Rep. Hunter, according to DeMaio’s latest campaign finance filings with the Federal Elections Commission. DeMaio, who previously ran for office in San Diego, will face former Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who decided not to run for reelection in a nearby congressional district two years ago.
Today DeMaio seemed eager to use that fact against Issa.
“I think the voters in the fiftieth want a fighter, not a quitter,” DeMaio told KQED. “And Darrell Issa has shown that he’s someone who runs from fights. He let the president down by quitting his reelection bid in 2018, along with 39 other Republicans … who were cowardly and quit on the president. They cut and run.”
Democrat Campa-Najjar is also running again and has more than $850,000 on hand, according to FEC filings. Issa has a personal fortune in addition to a list of campaign donors from his previous runs for office. Hunter by comparison had just $289,000 in his campaign account.
Depending on when Hunter resigns his seat, there will either be a special election to fill it before the March 3 primary, with a runoff likely in May. Otherwise the election would be consolidated with the March primary and November general election in 2020.
Copyright 2019 KQED