January 2018 — Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA49) has announced he will not seek re-election to the House seat he has held for 10 terms in northern San Diego County. Democrats have attempted to wrest control of this traditionally Republican seat from Issa for at least the last two cycles. Issa’s announcement will likely give them greater confidence they can win control of this seat as they try to regain control of Congress in the mid-term elections.
Issa’s announcement comes on the heels of another Republican announcing his retirement, Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton, announced on Monday he would not seek reelection.
Before his announcement the race to replace Issa had already attracted a handful of well-funded Democratic opponents, including his 2016 challenger, Doug Applegate, Orange County environmental lawyer Mike Levin, San Diego real estate investor Paul Kerr and Sara Jacobs, who has drawn the endorsement of Emily’s List. Issa had $852,028 in cash on hand as of September. Levin had led in fundraising with $530,326 in the bank. Applegate and Kerr each had a bit more than $200,000. This many candidates could easily fracture the Democrat vote in this district.
Also, nationally Democrats have been planning a campaign to run against the current White House, with Issa out this scuttles those plans in this district. Plus a strong Republican candidate in a Republican district could mean the Democrats may have more difficulty in challenging this seat than they did in 2016. Diane Harkey, Chair of the State Board of Equalization, has announced her intention to run for the seat – she is just the type of candidate Democrat challengers were hoping to evade.
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