GOP candidate narrowly wins California race Vote seen as possible bellwether for midterm elections Wednesday, June 7, 2006; Posted: 5:39 a.m. EDT (09:39 GMT) (AP) -- 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 supporters. The race -- one of dozens of election contests in eight states -- was viewed by Democrats as an opportunity to capture a solidly Republican district and build momentum on their hopes to capture control of the House. Elsewhere, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley easily beat back a GOP primary challenge from "Ten Commandments" judge Roy Moore, while Democratic former Gov. Don Siegelman lost his comeback fight against the state's first female lieutenant governor. Also in Alabama, voters passed a ban on gay marriage by a 4-to-1 margin. Another Washington corruption case figured in Montana's primary, where GOP Sen. Conrad Burns sought the nomination for a fourth term. After his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff became known, Burns saw his popularity fall. He beat several primary challengers and won nearly three-quarters of the vote. His Democratic challenger in the fall will be state Senate President Jon Tester. In Iowa, Secretary of State Chet Culver beat a crowded Democratic field to face GOP Rep. Jim Nussle, who had no primary opposition, for an open governor's seat. California also saw a tight race between the two Democrats hoping to challenge GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who faced only token opposition. State Treasurer Phil Angelides narrowly beat Controller Steve Westly in the Democratic primary, winning Los Angeles and San Francisco counties. With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Angelides had 842,657 votes, 48 percent, to Westly's 772,547 votes, or 44 percent. "I'm standing here before you tonight as the nominee for governor," Angelides said early Wednesday, while his supporters chanted, "Go, Phil, go!" Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota also held primaries. Corruption and allegations of corruption -- in California, Alabama and Montana -- criss-crossed the country. Immigration was a campaign issue from the South to the Plains. Still, the biggest race was the one to replace Cunningham, where Democrats saw a rich opportunity to capture a solidly Republican district and build momentum on their hopes to capture control of the House. National Democrats spent nearly $2 million on the race; the GOP spent $4.5 million. President Bush and first lady Laura Bush recorded telephone messages for Bilbray, while the Democrats' last two presidential candidates -- John Kerry and Al Gore -- urged supporters to back Busby. Bilbray made immigration the centerpiece of his campaign, proposing a fence "from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico" and restrictions to keep illegal immigrants from collecting Social Security and other benefits. Busby focused her campaign on public dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and the GOP-led Congress, and assailed Bilbray for working as a lobbyist in Washington. She consistently referred to him as "the lobbyist Bilbray." In New Jersey, Republicans chose Tom Kean Jr., the son of a popular former governor, to challenge Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez in the fall. Kean -- who critics said needed a convincing win to be a real challenger -- easily defeated a more conservative candidate, winning three of every four votes. Menendez, appointed to his seat after former Sen. Jon Corzine became governor, beat a little-known challenger. In the weeks leading up to Alabama's gubernatorial primary, polls showed Riley with a growing lead on Moore, the former state chief justice who became a hero to the religious right in 2003 when he was ousted over his refusal to remove the Commandments monument from the state judicial building. That same year, Riley saw his popularity plummet when he unsuccessfully sought a $1.2 billion tax increase. But his standing rose with the state economy, and this year he helped pass a tax cut for the working poor. Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley fashioned an "I Love Lucy" campaign, while Siegelman had to campaign at night while on trial on corruption charges during the day. She won with 60 percent of the vote while Siegelman got just 36 percent. Riley took 67 percent of the vote, and Moore 33 percent. Schwarzenegger won the GOP nomination with only token opposition, while Angelides and Westly fought a close and nasty contest for the Democratic nomination that left many voters dismayed. Several House incumbents who were leading against primary challenges included GOP Rep. Richard Pombo and hawkish Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, both of California. A few races brought back some familiar names: Jerry Brown -- the former California governor, presidential candidate and current Oakland mayor -- won the Democratic primary for attorney general. Chuck Espy, a state lawmaker and nephew of Mike Espy, Mississippi's first black congressman since Reconstruction, lost his primary challenge to Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson. George C. Wallace Jr., son of the former Alabama governor, trailed in the GOP primary for lieutenant governor to attorney Luther Strange, but the race goes to a runoff because no one got 50 percent. Hollywood director Rob Reiner was the leading backer of a measure in California to create a $2.4 billion universal preschool program. It was trailing in early returns. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/07/primaries.roundup.ap/index.html
Those who know San Diego, didn't think she had much chance. An ugly broad vs. a white corrupt republican. No contest. Anyone who knows anything about San Diego politics knows how corrupt, and nearly always white republican this town is...
What do you mean with "nearly always white republican"? What else you got? "sometimes" black democrats, a "few instances" of mexican liberals and "sporadic" little yellow socialists ? ja ja
The key word is "narrowly". Duke Cunningham was winning by 20-30 points in his heavily republican district, now the margin has shrunk to 4%. Busby won 36 percent of the vote in the last election against Cunningham, she got 45.5% now (Bilbray got 49.6%). If this is not an anti-republican backlash I don't know what is.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/15116.html THE TRUE LIBERAL IMMIGRATION POLICY. There is, no doubt, much talk on the left to legalize every last illegal immigrant in this country for this reason alone. "WE VOTED YOU IN ... THE EVIL RICH-WHITE REPUBLICAN NAZIS WANTED YOU TO DIE IN THE DESERT!" Democrat politics would be amusing if not so vindicative and destructive
The town politicians are Republican because the very large majority of San Diegans actually work for a living. Also, there is not a lot of race baiting idiot democratic politicians either.
What happened in California? Did white racist Repugnicans manage to prevent illegal aliens from voting twice?