| California's 50th congressional district | ||
|---|---|---|
| Current Representative | Brian Bilbray (R–Carlsbad) | |
| Area | 365 mi² | |
| Distribution | 97.8% urban, 2.2% rural | |
| Population (2000) | 639,087 | |
| Median income | $59,813 | |
| Ethnicity | 65.8% White, 1.8% Black, 10.3% Asian, 18.8% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 0.2% other | |
| Cook PVI | R+3 | |
California's 50th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in San Diego County. The district consists of the northern coastal region of San Diego County and includes the suburbs of San Marcos, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, and Escondido.
The district is currently represented by Republican Brian P. Bilbray.
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In the 1980s, California's 44th Congressional District was one of four that divided San Diego. 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 U.S. Census. Upon his victory, Cunningham changed his official residence from his Del Mar home to a condominium in the Mission Valley neighborhood in San Diego, as he was required to reside in the district that he represented in Congress.
In the 1980s, California's 41st Congressional District was another of four that divided San Diego. The northern San Diego County district had been held for 12 years by Republican Bill Lowery and was considered the most Republican district in the San Diego area. The district was renumbered as California's 51st Congressional District after the 1990 U.S. 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 farther 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.
In the 2000 U.S. Census, the 51st Congressional District was renumbered the 50th Congressional District. The district was gerrymandered to exclude the relatively liberal areas of La Jolla, Bird Rock, downtown La Jolla, and the University of California-San Diego areas. Those areas were moved to the more liberal 53rd Congressional District, and the more conservative community of Clairemont was added to the current 50th Congressional District.
| Election results from statewide races | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Results |
| 2010 | Governor[1] | Whitman 55.2 - 39.8% |
| Senator[2] | Fiorina 55.2 - 39.8% | |
| 2008 | President[3] | Obama 51.3 - 47.1% |
| 2006 | Governor[4] | Schwarzenegger 69.9 - 26.3% |
| Senator[5] | Feinstein 50.8 - 45.2% | |
| 2004 | President[6] | Bush 55.2 - 43.9% |
| Senator[7] | Jones 48.2 - 48.1% | |
| 2003 | Recall[8][9] | Yes 68.0 - 32.0% |
| Schwarzenegger 63.1 - 20.3% | ||
| 2002 | Governor[10] | Simon 55.6 - 37.3% |
| 2000 | President[11] | Gore 59.0 - 37.2% |
| Senator[12] | Feinstein 64.4 - 27.8% | |
| 1998 | Governor | |
| Senator | ||
| 1996 | President | |
| 1994 | Governor | |
| Senator | ||
| 1992 | President | Clinton 48.8 - 30.0% |
| Senator | Boxer 49.8 - 39.0% | |
| Senator | Feinstein 54.5 - 35.6% | |
| Counties | Representative | Party | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created | January 3, 1993 | |||
| San Diego (southern suburbs) |
Bob Filner | Democratic | January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003 | Redistricted to the 51st district |
| San Diego (northern suburbs) |
Duke Cunningham | Republican | January 3, 2003 – December 1, 2005 | Redistricted from the 51st district, Resigned |
| Vacant | December 1, 2005 – June 13, 2006 | |||
| Brian Bilbray | Republican | June 13, 2006 – present | Incumbent. | |
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1992[13] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |||
| Democratic | Bob Filner | 77,293 | 56.6% | |||
| Republican | Tony Valencia | 39,531 | 28.9% | |||
| Libertarian | Barbara Hutchinson | 15,489 | 11.3% | |||
| Peace and Freedom | Roger Bruce Batchelder | 4,250 | 3.1% | |||
| No party | Pickard (write-in) | 63 | 0.1% | |||
| Totals | 136,626 | 100.0% | ||||
| Voter turnout | % | |||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1994[14] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Bob Filner (incumbent) | 59,214 | 58.90% | |
| Republican | Mary Alice Acevedo | 36,955 | 32.50% | |
| Libertarian | Richardo Duenez | 3,326 | 3.18% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Guillermo Ramirez | 3,002 | 2.87% | |
| Green | Kip Krueger | 1,954 | 1.87% | |
| Totals | 118,340 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1996[15] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Bob Filner (incumbent) | 73,200 | 58.9% | |
| Republican | Jim Baize | 38,351 | 32.5% | |
| Reform | Dan Clark | 3,253 | 2.7% | |
| Natural Law | Earl Shepard | 6,573 | 1.8% | |
| Libertarian | Philip Zoebisch | 1,398 | 1.1% | |
| Totals | 118,340 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 1998[16] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Bob Filner (incumbent) | 77,354 | 99.18% | |
| No party | Jon Parungoa (write-in) | 596 | 0.77% | |
| Republican | Petra E. Barajas (write-in) | 41 | 0.05% | |
| Totals | 77,991 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2000[17] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Bob Filner (incumbent) | 95,191 | 68.3% | |
| Republican | Bob Divine | 38,526 | 27.7% | |
| Libertarian | David A. Willoughby | 3,472 | 2.4% | |
| Natural Law | LeAnn S. Kendall | 2,283 | 1.6% | |
| Totals | 139,472 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2002[18] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Duke Cunningham (inc.) | 111,095 | 64.4% | |
| Democratic | Del G. Stewart | 55,855 | 32.3% | |
| Libertarian | Richard M. Fontanesi | 5,751 | 3.3% | |
| Totals | 172,701 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2004[19] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Duke Cunningham (inc.) | 169,025 | 58.5% | |
| Democratic | Francine Busby | 105,590 | 36.5% | |
| Green | Gary M. Waayers | 6,504 | 2.2% | |
| American Independent | Diane Templin | 4,723 | 1.6% | |
| Libertarian | Brandon C. Osborne | 3,486 | 1.2% | |
| Totals | 289,328 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
Representative Cunningham resigned on November 28, 2005, as a result of a 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 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.[20] This decision is being appealed.
| California 50th congressional district special election, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Brian Bilbray | 64,554 | 49.5% | |
| Democratic | Francine Busby | 59,021 | 45.3% | |
| Independent | William Griffith | 4,846 | 3.7% | |
| Libertarian | Paul King | 1,995 | 1.5% | |
| Totals | 134,302 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2006[21] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Brian Bilbray (incumbent) | 118,018 | 53.2% | |
| Democratic | Francine Busby | 96,612 | 43.5% | |
| Libertarian | Paul King | 4,119 | 1.8% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Miriam E. Clark | 3,353 | 1.5% | |
| Totals | 222,102 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2008[22] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Brian Bilbray (incumbent) | 157,502 | 50.24% | |
| Democratic | Nick Leibham | 141,635 | 45.18% | |
| Libertarian | Wayne Dunlap | 14,365 | 4.58% | |
| Totals | 313,502 | 100.00% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
| United States House of Representatives elections, 2010[23] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Brian Bilbray (incumbent) | 142,236 | 56.65% | |
| Democratic | Francine Busby | 97,813 | 38.96% | |
| Libertarian | Lars B. Grossmith | 5,546 | 2.21% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Miriam E. Clark | 5,470 | 2.18% | |
| Totals | 251,065 | 100.00% | ||
| Voter turnout | % | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
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, 2006, he "downgraded" the 50th District's status from "dead to me" to "never existed to me."[24]
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