In a somewhat surprising turnabout, with nearly all of the provisional and mail-in ballots now counted after election night, incumbent Scott Peters was ahead to stay by more than 5,400 votes in the hotly contested 52nd Congressional District race.
Carl DeMaio, Democrat Peters’ Republican challenger, conceded defeat in the razor-thin vote on Nov. 9, formally ending one of the country’s most sought-after congressional races.
“I am honored the constituents of California’s 52nd Congressional District chose to send me back for another two years,” said Peters who thanked his family and wife Lynn, his campaign team and hundreds of volunteers who Peters said “worked nonstop to remind voters in every corner of the district about the importance of this election.”
Peters also thanked DeMaio for “his commitment to public service and government reform. While we disagreed on many issues, I congratulate him on running a tenacious, aggressive and tough campaign.”
The re-elected Congressman pledged to “continue on the path I forged in 2012, working with members of both parties to break the gridlock and get things done for my district and the nation.
The district includes La Jolla and Carmel Valley.
“My campaign moved beyond the false choices that dominate the current dialogue in Washington and answered the voters’ demand for practical, centrist solutions,” Peters said. “The voters want real leadership on issues like protecting a woman’s right to choose, addressing climate change, providing fair wages and safe working conditions and giving students the opportunity to afford a college education.”
Peters said voters also want a strong commitment to national defense and a willingness to work with the business community in a partnership for job creation and economic expansion.
“In San Diego,” he said, “that means renewed investments in basic infrastructure – our roads and bridges – and in emerging sciences and technologies like green energy, high tech and biotech and other innovative businesses that create good jobs.”
The campaign for the 52nd District race topped $10 million in spending by both candidates.
Michael Vu, San Diego’s registrar of voters, said DeMaio was up by 752 votes at the end of election night, with some 188,000 provisional and mail-in ballots yet to be counted. But the registrar said that situation gradually turned as more ballots were counted.
“With the update on Thursday of last week [Nov. 6] with 13,000 ballots added, the vote swung to Peters, who was ahead by 861 votes,” Vu said. “That lead has increased since then, when Peters’ vote, on Friday, increased to 4,771 ahead.”
The no-holds-barred race drew national attention and plenty of support — especially campaign dollars — from outside political interests.
Peters first claimed the newly created 52nd Congressional District seat in 2012, unseating Republican Brian Bilbray in an election that took several days of counting to decide.
Noting “San Diegans are sick of division and dysfunction in Washington,” DeMaio said constituents “want less fighting and more fixing.”
It was a divisive campaign from the start, with incumbent Peters painting himself as an independent bipartisan “problem solver” while attempting to depict his challenger as a “Tea Party extremist.”
DeMaio went after Peters’ attacking his eight-year record as a San Diego city councilman. DeMaio blamed him as “part of the fiscal problem” necessitating pension reform and branding him as a “business-as-usual” Washington politician.
During the race, DeMaio, who is openly gay, had to ward off allegations of sexual misconduct by two former male staffers — the second of whom went public only a few days before the Nov. 4 election. His campaign office was also vandalized earlier this year.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis declined to file charges regarding the first instance of alleged sexual harassment or the vandalism. She cited insufficient evidence in each case.
During his concession speech to Peters, DeMaio described the campaign against Peters as “incredibly painful,” leaving him wary of electoral politics.