Former Rep Darrell Issa is considering returning to the House should Duncan Hunter decide not to seek reelection because he has been indicted for fraud.
Issa left the House after he decided not to run for reelection in 2018 because his seat was considered vulnerable. The Democrats won the seat as part of their Blue Wave. Last September, President Trump nominated Issa to head the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, but his nomination has been stalled in the Senate and Mitch McConnell has not seen fit to advance his nomination.
Issa is a rock-ribbed conservative and he possesses $250 million dollars and can finance his own campaign should he decide to run.
Former U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa is reportedly considering a run for Rep. Duncan Hunter’s seat in California if the indicted congressman resigns or decides not to seek reelection, according to reports.
Issa left Congress in January after declining to pursue another term in 2018. His seat in California’s 49th Congressional District was considered one of the most vulnerable for Republicans in the midterms and was part of a blue wave in Orange County that flipped multiple seats from Republican to Democrat in the former GOP stronghold region.
Both Issa’s former district and Hunter’s – California’s 50th — are in San Diego, with Hunter’s represented by a Republican for the last three decades.
Hunter was indicted last summer for misuse of $250,000 in campaign funds but was reelected despite the charges. However, Hunter’s wife, who was also charged in the indictment, pleaded guilty earlier this month.
“Darrell has been supportive of me in the past,” Hunter, who has not suggested he plans to leave Congress, told the Hill. “He is supporting me now. He is not in the district, nothing close to it. He probably doesn’t know much about the district. But it’s anybody’s prerogative to run for office anywhere they want to.”