In the race for the vacant 50th Congressional District seat, Democrat Ammar-Campa Najjar topped the nine candidates, followed by Republican Darrell Issa.

Campa-Najjar was the top vote-getter, receiving about 68,000 votes, while Issa received a little over 44,000.

Republican Carl DeMaio was not too far behind Issa, and Republican Senator Brian Jones fell to a distant fourth.

The race for the 50th Congressional District has been the most high-profile race in San Diego County during the 2020 election cycle.

Part of an area that historically has been a Republican strong hold, the district includes parts of the East County, communities in the inland North County and a southern portion of Riverside County.

The seat has remained vacant since January with no special election put in by Governor Gavin Newsom, after Duncan Hunter’s resignation.

Hunter represented the district since 2013, and despite being indicted by a federal grand jury for misusing campaign funds, narrowly won re-election in 2018. He resigned in January of this year, after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds. Hunter was sentenced on March 17. He looked at a maximum of five years in prison.

In the 2018 general election, Hunter defeated Campa-Najjar, 52% to 48%.

Campa-Najjar, 31, born in East County, is a small business owner and lecturer at San Diego State University, who even worked on Obama’s presidential re-election campaign, in the Executive Office of the President.

Campa-Najjar said he “introduced sweeping bipartisan legislation to end government corruption and restore power to the American people.”

He was endorsed by Representatives Susan Davis, Eric Swalvell, and Adam Schiff.

Before his first election to Congress, Issa served in the U.S. Army and attained the rank of captain. He founded Directed Electronics Inc., and helped organize several political efforts. Issa received his bachelor’s degree from Siena Heights University.

U.S. House Minority Leader Republican Kevin McCarthy and Representative Republican Steve Scalise endorsed Issa.

Will the traditionally conservative district be ultimately flipped? It will be a campaign battle until November.