Posted on 01/11/2006 3:56:16 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CARLSBAD – Rep. Darrell Issa said Wednesday morning that he was endorsing former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray and will serve as his campaign chairman in the race to replace disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the 50th District. Pointing out that his district, the 49th, is touched on all sides by the 50th, Issa, R-Vista, said he needs a partner in Washington D.C. who has the experience and integrity to get work done on behalf of the North County.
"When you are looking for someone who is trusted and proven and who has been in the arena and has been bloodied a bit you could not find a better person than Brian Bilbray," Issa said in a news conference at Maxton Brown Park on Laguna Drive, with the Buena Vista Lagoon as a backdrop.
Issa said Bilbray is a proven leader who has been at the forefront of on issues important to North County, such as illegal immigration.
Bilbray, who represented Imperial Beach in Congress from 1994-2000, authored the "birth-right" legislation that is part of the immigration reform package now being considered in Washington, Issa said
Bilbray said he was honored by Issa's endorsement and looked forward to his active participation in his campaign.
"Darrell Issa is a man who knows what need to be done in North County and San Diego and he knows what need to be done in Washington D.C," Bilbray said.
Bilbray also announced that Roxana Foxx, former chairwoman of the San Diego County Republican Party, would serve as a co-campaign finance chair.
Bilbray also picked up the endorsement of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego County from President Jim Duffy, who said that Bilbray would work on homeland security issues important to law enforcement.
Issa said Bilbray, if elected, will have more senority than he does in Washington and will be "first in line" for key personal, committees and even his choice of offices.
But that's Ok with Issa. "He will take the best he can, but he will do what is right for this district," Issa said.
Among the others in the race are two Democrats – Francine Busby and Chris Young – and six Republicans. The GOP candidates are state Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside; former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian of San Marcos; former Del Mar mayor Richard Earnest; businessman Alan Uke of Del Mar and Ken King of Rancho Santa Fe.
Cunningham resigned in November after pleading guilty to conspiracy and tax-evasion charges stemming from his dealings with defense contractors. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27.
The 50th Congressional District runs along the North County Coast from Carlsbad south to Del Mar and also includes the cities of San Marcos and Escondido as well as the neighborhoods of Rancho Santa Fe, University City, La Jolla and Rancho Bernardo.
Sorry Darryl, its going to be Kaloogian.
Howard Kallogian is where I sent my money, he's the best man in the race.
Bilbray is another environmentalsit surfer.
AS someone who worked on the same floor when Bilbray
was a Co. Supervisor and remembers when he was a congressman, He is conservative and will also work on the border issues. It helps to live here to know about
the folks.
Pray tell, just what does "work on the border issues" imply?
Details please.
How so? Are you thinking of when he was mayor of Imperial Beach and was out there himself with a bulldozer, cleaning up the raw sewage washed up from Tijuana?
Bilbray's lifetime ACU rating was 71 (68 in his final year). That's NOT a Conservative, sorry. He's also pro-abort, too. Totally unacceptable.
You're absolutely right.
Bilbray and Kaloogian are BOTH good men.
The only opinions that really matter are the voters in the 50th district, since this is not a statewide election.
I think that the winner will be state Senator Bill Morrow, who is campaigning on a conservative platform, including border security.
Issa's endorsement is very strange.
HA! Clinton certainly thought so, too.
That's why redistricting defeated him.
Clinton departs from a big fund raiser to crush Brian Bilbray on July 22, 2000 in San Diego. $150 per plate dinner. Susan Davis (Democrat) took Bilbray's seat.
Hiya, interesting folks that don't even live in this
state think they know Bilbray. He can be the most effective of the lot and is conservative where it counts.
If the other guy wants to run for office in San Diego he should have his campaign address in San Diego not some town
in northern Calif.
Huh?
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