Free Republic

The results from California's 50th district are now in - and Republican Brian Bilbray has defeated Democrat Francine Busby in the contest to complete the tenure of Duke Cunningham. This was Busby's third try at seizing the seat. She is now 0-for-3. The two will face off again in November, but it seems highly likely that the GOP will hold the seat.Pundits and partisans across the land have examined the returns to divine some kind of meaning from them. What did the voters tell us? Many answers have been offered - not all of them valid. Many people have seen...

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...

Last night Democratic candidate Francine Busby failed to reach the 50% + 1 mark in her quest to take the seat formerly held by Republican Duke Cunningham. She finished in the low- to mid-40's.Judging by the early reports on the election, the media is going to spin this as a good development for the Democrats in their quest to take the House. I could not disagree more.The election will go to a June runoff, but this seems to me to have been the Democrats' only real chance at this seat. GOP candidates pulled in a majority of the vote...