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California's 50th Congressional District




The 50th Congressional District in California represents a part of north coastal San Diego County . Its seat in the United States House Of Representatives has been represented by Republican Brian Bilbray since the special election of June 13 2006 .


HISTORY



44th District

In the 1980s , was one of four that divided San Diego, California . The district had been held for eight years by Democrat Jim Bates and was considered the most Democratic district in the San Diego area. However, Bates became bogged down in a Scandal involving charges of Sexual Harassment . Randy "Duke" Cunningham won the Republican nomination and hammered Bates about the scandal. Cunningham won by just a point, meaning that the San Diego area was represented entirely by Republicans for only the second time since the city was split into three districts after the 1960 Census . After winning, Cunningham changed his official residence from his Del Mar home to a condo in Mission Valley, San Diego , as he was required to reside in his district.


41st District

In the 1980s, was another of four that divided San Diego, California . The North San Diego County district had been held for twelve years by Republican Bill Lowery and was considered the most Republican district in the San Diego area. The District was renumbered as after the 1990 Census . In 1992 Cunningham campaigned against Lowery in Lowery's district in the Republican primary. The new 51st District was much more conservative than Cunningham's more urban, old 41st District further south. Lowery, who was tainted by the House Check Kiting Scandal , lost the primary to Cunningham, who billed himself as honest, with his campaign theme of "A Congressman We Can Be Proud Of". Cunningham changed his official residence back to his Del Mar home in the old 41st/new 51st District after winning.


2000s

In the score of R +5.


REPRESENTATIVES



SPECIAL ELECTION, 2006

See Also: California 50th congressional district special election, 2006


Representative Cunningham resigned on November 28 , 2005 as a result of a massive Bribery Scandal .

An open Special Election was held on April 11 , 2006 . The top vote getter was Democrat Francine Busby , who won 44% of the vote. The second place finisher was Republican Brian Bilbray , who won 15% of the vote. Paul King was the top Libertarian party vote getter, with 0.6% of the vote. Since no candidate received a simple majority, the top vote-getters in each party competed in a Runoff or special General Election on June 6 , 2006 (the same day as the statewide California primary).

Bilbray was sworn in by Republican Speaker Of The House Dennis Hastert on June 13 , based on unofficial counts, two weeks before the election was certified. As a consequence of this action, a court challenge to the election results filed by voters was denied on jurisdictional grounds.1 This decision is being appealed.


ELECTION RESULTS


2006


  party Republican Party (United States)
  candidate Brian P Bilbray
  votes 64,554
  percentage 495
  change -90


  party Democratic Party (United States)
  candidate Francine Busby
  votes 59,021
  percentage 453
  change +88


  party Independent
  candidate William Griffith
  votes 4,846
  percentage 37
  change +37


  party Libertarian Party (United States)
  candidate Paul King
  votes 1,995
  percentage 15
  change +03


  votes 4,732
  percentage 42


  votes 134,302
  percentage 378


  winner Republican Party (United States)
  swing -89



2004


  party Republican Party (United States)
  candidate Randy "Duke" Cunningham
  votes 169,025
  percentage 585
  change -54


  party Democratic Party (United States)
  candidate Francine Busby
  votes 105,590
  percentage 365
  change +38


  party Green Party (United States)
  candidate Gary M Waayers
  votes 6,504
  percentage 22
  change +22


  party Constitution Party (United States)
  candidate Diane Templin
  votes 4,723
  percentage 16
  change +16


  party Libertarian Party (United States)
  candidate Brandon C Osborne
  votes 3,486
  percentage 12
  change -21


  votes 63,435
  percentage 220


  votes 289,328


  winner Republican Party (United States)
  swing -46



REFERENCES IN POPULAR CULTURE

On November 29 2005 , Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central 's '' The Colbert Report '' declared on his show that the 50th Congressional District was "dead" to him after its insufficient support for his "friend" Duke Cunningham. Colbert placed the district on the show's ever-changing "Dead to Me" board, saying that he now considered the number of congressional districts in the United States to be 434. The number became 433 when he retired the 22nd District Of Texas and sent it up to the rafters. However, on June 8, 2006, the eve of Tom Delay 's leaving Congress, Colbert returned the district to the board with a satirical "tribute" to DeLay, followed by a fake interview segment made from spliced-together clips of three interviews DeLay had done in the past. Colbert put the district back into retirement at the end of the segment.
On March 1 st, 2006 , he "downgraded" the 50th District's status from "dead to me" to "never existed to me." List Of The Colbert Report Episodes , episodes 122 and 226


REFERENCES