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From their memo to "GOP friends" (i.e. talking points): Update: With 90.2% of the precincts reporting, Republican Brian Bilbray leads Democrat Francine Busby by 4,814 votes - 49.5% to 45.2%. The Associated Press has called the race for Brian Bilbray. In San Diego County (of which the 50th District is a part) there are about 40,000 absentee ballots remaining to be counted today, as well as over 14,000 provisional ballots. So it will be at least this afternoon before we have final results. Note: Brian Bilbray also won the GOP primary last night for the right to face Democrat Francine...

by Mark Finkelstein June 7, 2006 For weeks, the MSM has been billing as a bellwether the congressional by-election in California to replace convicted felon Randy 'Duke' Cunningham. As per the conventional wisdom, if the Democrats managed to take the seat in what is normally a GOP-stronghold, it would be seen as a harbinger of horrible things to come for the Republican congressional majority. Well, the election was held yesterday, and - whoops! - the Republican, Brian Bilbray, won. So how did Today spin it? Why, silence was suddenly golden. At least as far as the crucial first half-hour, not...

A former Republican congressman narrowly beat his Democratic rival early Wednesday for the right to fill the House seat once held by imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a race closely watched as a possible early barometer of next fall's vote. Republican Brian Bilbray emerged victorious after a costly and contentious race against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member who ran against Cunningham in 2004. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bilbray had 56,016 votes or 49.5 percent. Busby trailed with 51,202 votes or 45 percent. "I think that we're going back to Washington," Bilbray told a cheering crowd of...

Busby & Bilbray Vote Early In 50th District Race Last Updated: 06-05-06 at 7:16PM Republican Brian Bilbray and Democrat Francine Busby stopped by the County Registrar's Office early Monday to cast a ballot for themselves. The latest polls show the two are in a dead heat for the 50th District congressional seat. With his wife and daughter in tow, former congressman-turned-lobbyist Bilbray stolled into the registrar's office and voted for himself to replace fallen representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham. About an hour later, Democratic contender and Cardiff School District board member Busby voted for herself in her quest to finish Cunningham's...

LOS ANGELES—In a last-minute move to help Republican chances in the too-close-to call special U.S. House election in California’s 50th District (San Diego) on June 6, both President Bush and Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) weighed in strongly this weekend for GOP nominee Brian Bilbray. In a recorded telephone message to Republican households in the district that became vacant when Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R.-Calif.) quit in disgrace earlier this year, the President called on voters to vote for Bilbray, who represented a neighboring district from 1994-2000, and describes the moderate GOPer as an ally in the war on terror. The...

CARLSBAD, Calif. - Republicans seized on Democrat Francine Busby's comments that sounded like encouragement for illegal immigrants to help her campaign as the GOP sought an edge in the final hours of a surprisingly close House race. Immigration looms large in the runoff election Tuesday in the San Diego-area district some 30 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Busby's remarks, and her subsequent explanation that she misspoke, has drawn much of the attention in the race's last days. Speaking to a largely Hispanic audience last Thursday, Busby faced a Spanish-speaking questioner who said he wanted to help her campaign but lacked...

Carlsbad, Calif. -- Republicans seized on Democrat Francine Busby's comments that sounded like encouragement for illegal aliens to help her campaign as the GOP sought an edge in the final hours of a surprisingly close House race. Immigration looms large in the runoff election Tuesday in the San Diego-area district some 30 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Busby's remarks, and her subsequent explanation that she misspoke, has drawn much of the attention in the race's last days. Speaking to a largely Hispanic audience last Thursday, Busby faced a Spanish-speaking questioner who said he wanted to help her campaign but lacked...

Can you call tomorrow to help score the first 2006 victory? We've identified thousands of Busby supporters—but we need to make sure they vote. Can you sign up to make a few reminder calls on Tuesday? Sign me up! Dear MoveOn member, Tomorrow is Election Day in California's 50th Congressional District, where progressive Francine Busby is looking for the last few hundred votes to win. The national Republican Party has spent over $4 million desperately trying to beat her. They've even tried to drive a wedge between Busby and us by mentioning your work in one of their ads.1 We're...

By-election defeat could signal disaster for Bush By Tim Reid The Republicans are alarmed after polls show that voters may turn against them in one of their strongholds A US by-election tomorrow to replace a jailed Congressman in a traditionally safe Republican seat is too close to call, an alarming sign for President Bush and his party ahead of November’s mid-term elections.

Bilbray Hopes To Make Splash On Election Day California’s Primary Election is just days away. Also on Tuesday’s ballot, one race will be decided -- it is the 50th District short-term special election. According to a 10News/Survey USA Poll, the race is neck and neck. Republican Brian Bilbray has with 47 percent of the vote, while Democrat Francine Busby has 45 percent of the vote. Voter turnout will be key in the winner of the seat once held by Randy “Duke” Cunningham. With less than a week to go until the election to replace Cunningham, the countdown is on. In...

The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Immigration and its politically controversial cousin, amnesty, are co-starring in the closing act of a House race with national implications, a close and costly production in Republican-friendly San Diego. In a conservative district roughly 30 miles from the Mexican border, Democrat Francine Busby is under attack from Republican Brian Bilbray and the House GOP, depicted as an advocate of amnesty for illegal immigrants. "Busby even said she would protest making English our official language," says a GOP party ad. "Even worse, Busby opposes tougher visa regulations that would make it harder for terrorists to enter...

Roger Hedgecock, talk show host on KOGO AM600 in San Diego, is playing a recording made covertly at a meeting last night. The meeting was an event held by the Francine Busby campaign. Busby is the Democrat candidate for California's 50th Congressional District, vacated by disgraced crook Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The meeting was with an audience of Hispanic attendees and only Spanish-language media was invited. Busby addressed them through an interpreter. On the tape, a man is heard saying that he didn't "have papers" and asking how he could help. Busby replies, in part, "You can all help. You...

From San Diego BREAKING NEWS: Francine Busby Seeking Campaign Help From Illegal Aliens Candidate caught on tape, "You don't need papers for voting." SAN DIEGO, CA (June 2, 2006) -- Francine Busby has been caught on tape soliciting campaign help from illegal aliens in San Diego County. At a campaign event last night in Escondido, Busby was asked in Spanish whether someone could help even though they “do not have papers.” Busby responds affirmatively, stating “Everybody can help, yeah, absolutely, everyone can help. You don’t need papers for voting, you don’t need to be a registered voter to help.” “At...

Sorry for not posting an article. I can't find any updated information. I am very curious to see how this plays out. Between Haidtha and this elections, the RATS will have a field day!!!!

With five days to go before the too-close-to-call special U.S. House election in California's 50th District (San Diego), Republicans were rocked last week with a hard-hitting denunciation of their nominee, Brian Bilbray from a fellow Republican. "I proudly swore an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of California and the United States," Steve Baldwin, a former state assemblyman from San Diego and longtime conservative activist, wrote in an e-mail to fellow GOP activists in the 50th District, "That's why I'm appalled and deeply saddened to learn that Brian Bilbray is making a mockery of his oath to his fellow...

A nice contrast today. It concerns the company McCain keeps. Brian Bilbray is in a dogfight of a Congressional race in a traditionally Republican district represented by Duke Cunningham until his resignation. He needs all the help he can get. He also happens to disagree with the Senate immigration bill passed last week. John McCain had been scheduled in town to raise critical last minute funds for Bilbray's campaign. Until today, when McCain suddenly cancelled, apparently in retaliation for Bilbray's opposition to McCain's work on immigration reform. What does it say for the Senator can't step into a Republican district...

WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain canceled a fundraiser for Republican Brian Bilbray in California's special election after the candidate publicly criticized the Senate immigration bill. McCain, R-Ariz., the top proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, didn't appear at the Wednesday breakfast fundraiser. Bilbray is in a June 6 run-off election with Democrat Francine Busby to replace the vacant seat of embattled former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for accepting bribes. Bilbray has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV commercials attacking Busby for her support of the immigration bill that...

SAN DIEGO -- Arizona Sen. John McCain on Tuesday canceled an appearance for a Republican congressional candidate who has attacked his opponent for supporting McCain's immigration bill. McCain, R-Ariz., was scheduled to speak Wednesday at a breakfast fundraiser for Brian Bilbray, who is locked in a close runoff race with Democrat Francine Busby for the San Diego-area seat left vacant by disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The event was expected to raise at least $65,000. The winner of the June 6 special election will fill the remaining seven months left in Cunningham's term. In an e-mail sent to the...

By: North County Times - Editorial Our view: In close race for 50th District seat, former congressman just better than Busby The race between Francine Busby and Brian Bilbray in the 50th Congressional District presents voters with an unusually good pair of choices. Both are much closer to the center of the nation's political spectrum than its fringes, and both are very strong candidates on their own merits. Running a strong reform campaign in a district shamed by Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Democrat Busby offers voters a genuinely fresh face with solid credentials. Bilbray's strengths are his pragmatism, command of the...

GOP Fears in a Bellwether Race Staffers from the National Republican Congressional Committee are quietly telling GOP House members to prepare for a possible loss in the June 6 special election to fill the seat of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now in prison for taking bribes. The Southern California district is heavily Republican, but some GOP insiders believe that Democrat Francine Busby will defeat former GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray and go on to win a full term in November. More alarming some worry that a Bilbray defeat could signal the GOP's loss of control of the House. The NRCC has already...