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Former Congressman Darrell Issa on Thursday launched his election campaign to settle in California's 50th congressional district, posing the main challenge to the wartime representative, Duncan Hunter.
Issa, a Republican, had refused to run again in the 49th district in 2018 after winning his bid for 2016 by less than a percentage point. But he now sees a chance to return to Capitol Hill and replace his Republican compatriot, Hunter.
"I will be the next congressman of the 50th congressional district," Issa said at a press conference. "I have the history, the skills, the seniority and the ability to take the lead, not only for this district, but for California."
ISSA LAUNCHES EXPLORATION COMMITTEE
Hunter is running for a seventh term, but is fighting for siphoning campaign funds for personal use.
The entrance of Issa draws more attention to what was already a closely watched race. This puts Hunter in an increasingly difficult position, given Issa's wealth and his long criticism of Obama, who could play well in one of the last Republican districts of southern California.
Issa was seduced by many conservatives as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee from 2011 to 2015, where he was a staunch supporter of the Obama administration's investigations.
Last year, Hunter narrowly defeated Ammar Campa-Najjar, a young Democrat who had only 3.4 percentage points to win the seat in his first congressional race. He runs again in the March primary.
Campa-Najjar said that Issa was joining the group of candidates "just highlights the fact that Hunter is vulnerable and that we are viable, and that Washington insiders are looking for someone who could actually challenge our campaign." ".
Issa, a nine-member former congressman who made his fortune in a car alarm system company, formed an exploratory committee last month. He had retired before the 2018 elections in a district divided between San Diego and Orange counties, which he had narrowly won two years earlier. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat last November.
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Issa's decision comes after the Senate confirmation hearing of his post as Director of the US Agency for Trade and Development was delayed indefinitely, after the member of the Senate's Committee on External Relations, Bob Menendez, had insisted on the publication of an FBI background file according to which was 17.
The focus was on the fake identity card that he would have used as a 17-year-old private national of the army, considering that Issa had a well-known history of human rights violations. of the law when he had been charged with serious charges.
At the confirmation hearing, Menendez, DN.J, argued that the committee did not have access to the information necessary to determine whether Issa could be confirmed at his post and stated that his investigation into the FBI's antecedents contained "problematic" information. it could be "potentially disqualifying".
Brooke Singman of Fox News and Associated Press contributed to this report.
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