Posted on 05/08/2006 3:11:46 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Republican businessman Eric Roach announced he would be "standing down" in the 50th District Congressional race and stop campaigning for the seat to try to ensure a Republican victory.
“Maintaining the Republican majority in Congress is a vital goal this year, and a loss here in the 50th Congressional district to a liberal Democrat like Francine Busby would send the wrong signal across our great nation,” he announced in a statement read to reporters in a conference call.
Roach did not speak in the call; instead Stan Devereux, his communications director, read his statement and answered questions.
In the statement, Roach came short of endorsing his Republican rival Brian Bilbray in the June primary. And he pointed out he is still on the primary ballot.
On June 6, voters of the 50th district will be voting in two 50th Congressional District elections. One is a special runoff election to determine who completes the last six months of Randy “Duke” Cunningham's term. Bilbray and Busby are the front runners in that race.
The other race is the primary for the next two-year term, and Roach, Bilbray and Busby are among the 14 candidates in that race.
The seat was vacated by Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who resigned from Congress in November after confessing to accepting bribes from defense contractors for whom he helped secure Pentagon contracts.
Roach said in his statement that his campaign polling showed he had received more Republican votes than any other candidate in the April special election race, adding that many conservatives had urged him to run. Bilbray is seen as a moderate Republican.
“I am listed as a candidate in the Republican primary on June 6 and I would be ready to serve as the Republican nominee for the full term if I were to be elected,” Roach said in the statement.
“However, I do not believe it would serve the interests of the conservative majority to campaign aggressively against the Republican special nominee as the special election is occurring on the same day and it appears to be a very close race.”
The investigation that led to Cunningham's downfall began with a Copley News Service story published in The San Diego Union-Tribune in June that revealed he had sold his house for $1.7 million to a contractor who subsequently sold it for a much lower price.
Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison in March, receiving the longest prison term ever handed to a federal lawmaker. The criminal investigation in the case is still on-going.
Cunninghan, a Republican who earned fame as an ace fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, had been elected to Congress eight times.
The district spans from La Jolla north to Carlsbad and Escondido.
It has little to actually do with electability,, imo, it's all a game of subterfuge these days in California politics and just one more attempt to kill off conservatism and its followers here and across the nation.
The New "Conservative" Majority marches on in all its glory.
This will sure help to keep the Dems from grabbing the seat.
Don't be so sure,, with all the new voters signed up recently at the rallies,, you have an X factor at work here as well.
=== ping ===
If they really wanted to ensure a Republican win, Bilbray should stop campaigning. But the brilliant minds that run the GOP have to drive a guy like Roach out so a RINO like Bilbray can have ht eseat.
wooHOO!!!
No kidding.
Ha! You beat me to it!
Brian is a tough advocate for securing the borders too.
He most certainly is!
This will actually INCREASE the chances of Busby winning the special in June. Roach running on the regular primary ballot would have brought out conservative voters.
I hope that the Democrat wins, I hate moderates, I hate moderates more then liberals!
I partially hope that she does, I don't like Bilbray. He is pro-choice, pro-homosexual, pro-enviroment, and fiscally wishy-washy.
troll?
Like hell I am, do a post search!
You're on it.
Yep you're a troll. We don't use the term "pro-environment" in a negative sense. We talk about environmental whackos and such. Now take that as your parting gift and go ZOT yourself.
"Roach running on the regular primary ballot would have brought out conservative voters."
He is runing on the primary ballot, re read it.
De dropped out of running as an independant in the Special.
I know that. I should have said "running an active campaign"
And no, he wasn't going to run as an independent on the special ballot. That notion was never under consideration, besides, other than as a write-in it would have been illegal. This whole discussion was whether or not he was going to run a full-on campaign in the regular primary. This article is confirmation that he won't be running a campaign.
(Everyone who ran on the first round of the special is on the primary ballot because the filing deadline for the primary was prior to the special election)
"I hope that the Democrat wins"
Not me, a congressional seat is an awesome power, much too powerful to let the other side just take it.
I'm like Reagan in that way.
I think he will win the primary against Bilbray, the Mormon Church is really strong and that is what got him the votes in the special.
Years ago they put Packard into the House in a write in campaign in the district just to the north.
That combined with the votes for Kaloogian and Morrow won't go to Billbray in the primary.
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