The voters of California’s 50th Congressional District stamped former California Rep. Darrell Issa’s return ticket to Capitol Hill after he defeated Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.
The Associated Press and others made the projection on Saturday evening with Issa getting 53.7% with 168,220 votes and his opponent getting 46.3% with 144,975 votes.
Issa previously declared victory in a statement posted to social media Friday night saying:
“Whether you supported me in this election or not, I will work tirelessly in Congress for all who call the 50th District their home, for The State of California which I love so much, and for our great country,” Issa wrote. He thanked Campa-Najjar “for a spirited campaign.”
On Saturday, Campa-Najjar told the Associated Press he still believed he could pull out a win.
“There’s always a chance. There are still outstanding votes to be counted,” said Campa-Najjar, a 31-year-old former Obama administration official. He added: “I’ll respect the final outcome. We just don’t have the final outcome yet.”
Issa, 67, previously served in the House representing the state’s 49th Congressional District (after the 48th District was renumbered in 2003) from 2001 to 2019. His previous district encompassed the counties of Orange and San Diego. Issa announced in early 2018 he was not seeking reelection.
After his district became more competitive and difficult for him to win, the California Republican left Congress in 2018 to try and serve in the Trump administration as the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. But after New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez repeatedly delayed his confirmation, Issa decided to withdraw his nomination and run for Congress again.
Issa, who is considered one of the wealthiest members of Congress due to his car alarm fortune, loaned himself or gave more than $7.7 million to his campaign during this election cycle.
During the 2018 election cycle, many California Republicans lost their seats to Democrats, and Issa’s previous district, an open seat, flipped to Democratic Rep. Mike Levin. However, Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr., a Republican, who was under legal scrutiny at the time, managed to win reelection over Campa-Najjar by a slim margin in an inland San Diego County district.
Hunter was eventually forced out of his seat after he was charged and convicted in March on campaign finance laws violations.
While Issa once led the powerful House Oversight Committee, it’s not likely that he’ll get the top Republican spot on the panel, with the GOP still in the minority and other lawmakers clamoring for the high-profile post. But Issa will retain some seniority on committees because of his nine previous terms in Congress.
The California Republican became a national political figure during the Obama administration after Republicans took the House majority in 2011. Issa launched investigations of the administration through his Oversight Committee related to the Justice Department’s “Fast and Furious” scandal, the IRS’s targeting of conservative political organizations, and the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, among others.
Chief Congressional Correspondent Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.
