![\"congressional_watch\"](\"http:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/congressional_watch.png\")
<\/a>Cazador Duncan (R-50)<\/strong>, despite the campaign finance scandals that have plagued him for most of the past year, handily won re-election, defeating Democrat Patrick Malloy 64 percent to 36 percent<\/a>. No surprise. The 50th District hasn\u2019t been remotely competitive in decades.<\/p>\nIn the 51st Congressional District \u2014 the battle of the Juans \u2014 Juan Vargas (D-51) <\/strong>boat-raced Republican Juan Hidalgo, Jr. 72 percent to 28 percent<\/a>. Again, no surprise, as the 51st (or at least the equivalent thereof \u2014 remember, redistricting occurs every 10 years) has been solidly democratic, dating back at least to Vargas\u2019 predecessor, Bob Filner, and his 20 years in Congress.<\/p>\n The 53rd Congressional District was yet another ho-hum affair, with Susan Davis (D-53)<\/strong> swamping Republican James Veltmeyer, a doctor from La Mesa, 67 percent to 33 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n Scott Peters (D-52)<\/strong> was able to breathe relatively easy this time around, particularly in comparison to his two previous congressional races. In 2012, Peters narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray, a race that took several weeks for a winner to be declared. In 2014, Peters fended off former San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio, who had widespread name recognition and who had in fact taken the district during his 2012 San Diego mayoral race against Bob Filner. The 52nd is considered a swing district, roughly evenly divided between Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters, making the 2014 election another squeaker for Peters.<\/p>\n This time, however, Peters won by comfortable margin, 57 percent to 43 percent, over Republican challenger Denise Gitsham. Normally, Gitsham would have been a formidable opponent in the highly moderate district, but as election cycles come and go, Peters seems to become more and more well liked, and thus more entrenched as a member of Congress. But I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve seen the last of Denise Gitsham.<\/p>\n If the four races above lacked for drama, one race ensured that local political junkies didn\u2019t lack for intrigue.<\/p>\n Whereas the 52nd District is typically one of the tightest races in the country, this time it was Darrell Issa (R-49)<\/strong> who was forced to sweat it out while every last ballot was counted. Two weeks after the election, with just a handful of mail-in and provisional ballots still to be counted, the Associated Press finally called the race in favor of Issa over Democratic challenger and first time candidate, retired Marine Corps Col. Doug Applegate.<\/p>\n Pre-election polls indicated that it would be a tight race and for the first time since being elected to Congress in 2000, Issa\u2019s re-election was in doubt.<\/p>\n As previously chronicled in this space, Issa has never defeated his general election opponents by less than 10 points. Then came the June 2016 primary, where Issa bested Applegate by a much smaller margin, less than six percentage points.<\/p>\n Things only got more tense for Issa in the general election, but he was finally declared the winner with just 50.4 percent of the vote to Applegate\u2019s 49.6 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n In one of the more fascinating results of this election cycle, Applegate won the much larger, northern San Diego County portion of the district, 53 percent to 47 percent<\/a>; however, Issa was rescued by the area of the district that covers a small portion of Orange County, by a 60-40 margin<\/a>.<\/p>\n The AP declared Issa the winner Nov. 28<\/a>, with a lead of just over 2,300 votes out of more than 306,000 votes cast.<\/p>\n The question now is how will Issa react to this near-defeat experience? Issa has long been known for his attack-dog mentality and his penchant for levying unsubstantiated accusations of malfeasance at the Obama administration. That reputation could be turning the tide against him within the district. What was once a safe Republican seat might become America\u2019s next great swing district.<\/p>\n En otras noticias <\/strong>\u2026 Rep. Peters and Rep. Davis, both members of the House Armed Services Committee, condemned recent efforts by the Department of Defense to reclaim bonuses offered to California National Guard recruits over a decade ago<\/a>. The bonuses and student loan payments, many tallying $15,000 or more, were offered by recruiters in order to reach recruiting targets and bolster troop levels. However, 9,700 soldiers from California received the incentives and it turns out that a significant number of those bonuses were offered and paid out fraudulently.<\/p>\n \u201cI am deeply concerned and troubled by the clawback of bonuses from our National Guard members,\u201d Davis said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cAs ranking member of the military personnel subcommittee, I will look into all available options to help these service members and their families. They should not have to pay the price for mistakes made by others over a decade ago and we owe it to them to address this.\u201d<\/p>\n Defense Secretary Ash Carter subsequently suspended the collection efforts<\/a>, stating that the Pentagon will create a streamlined process that \u201censures the fair and equitable treatment of our service members\u201d and a rapid resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, we will provide for a process that puts as little burden as possible on any soldier who received an improper payment through no fault of his or her own,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n \u201cI applaud [the] decision from Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to cease the collection of unauthorized bonus payments,\u201d Peters said in his statement<\/a>. \u201cWhile a congressional fix may be needed, I urge Secretary Carter to use his existing authorities and resources to repay veterans and their families who have been wronged.\u201d<\/p>\n