California's 50th congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and encompasses parts of the Mid-Coast and northeastern parts of

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

. Scott Peters is currently the U.S. representative for California's 50th congressional district. The district is currently in

. It includes coastal and central portions of the city of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, including neighborhoods such as Carmel Valley,

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

, Point Loma and downtown San Diego; the San Diego suburbs of Poway and

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...

; and the campuses of schools such as the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

(partial), Point Loma Nazarene University, the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

, and various colleges of the San Diego Community College District. Much of this territory was in the 52nd district from 2013 to 2023. From 2003 through 2013, California's 52nd consisted of many of San Diego's northern and eastern suburbs, including Santee, Lakeside, Poway, Ramona, La Mesa, Alpine, Winter Gardens, Borrego Springs, and Spring Valley. Due to

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

after the 2010 United States census, much of this area is now part of the 50th district. Despite being indicted by a federal grand jury for misusing campaign funds, Duncan D. Hunter narrowly won re-election in this district in 2018. On December 3, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy misuse of campaign funds, and it was expected he would resign before being sentenced on March 17, 2020.Rep. Duncan Hunter pleads guilty to misusing campaign funds, is expected to resign from Congress
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Sarah D. Wire and Seema Mehta December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019. On January 7, 2020, he submitted letters of resignation to both Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

and

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

indicating that his resignation would take effect at close of business on January 13.Rep. Hunter Announces Resignation Date, Newsom Will Not Call Special Election
KNSD, Julie Watson and NBC 7 Staff January 7, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020. A day later, Newsom's office stated that there would be no special election to fill the seat, and so it remained vacant until being filled in January 2021, as a result of the regularly scheduled 2020 election. Ammar Campa-Najjar, the Democratic nominee for the seat in 2018, and Republican

Darrell Issa Darrell Edward Issa ( ; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congressional district. He represented the 50th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A memb ...

, who formerly represented California's 49th congressional district, competed in this election. Issa won the seat by 8 points.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

Under the 2020 redistricting, California's 50th congressional district is located in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, encompassing the coastal and central portions of the City of San Diego, and most of the South Bay region of

. It includes the

neighborhoods of San Pasqual, Rancho Bernardo,

, Point Loma, University City, Torrey Pines, Mission Beach, North Park, Hillcrest,

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

, Golden Hill, Pacific Beach, Carmel Valley, Pacific Highlands Ranch, and Black Mountain Ranch; the cities of

, San Marcos, and southern Escondido; and the census-designated places Lake San Marcos, Harmony Grove, Elfin Forest, Del Dios, Rancho Santa Fe, and Fairbanks Ranch. San Diego County is split between this district, the 48th district, the 49th district, the 51st district, and 52nd district. The 50th and 48th are partitioned by Gopher Canyon Rd, Escondido Freeway, Mountain Meadow Rd, Hidden Meadows, Reidy Cyn, N Broadway, Cougar Pass Rd, Adagio Way, Calle Ricardo, Tatas Place, Rue Montreux, Jesmond Dene Rd, Ivy Dell Ln, N Centre City Parkway, Highway 15, Richland Rd, Vista Canal, Woodland Parkway, W El Norte Parkway, Bennett Ave, Elser Ln, Nordahl Rd, Calavo Dr, Deodar Rd, Highway 78, Barham Dr, 2315-2339 Meyers Ave, Hill Valley Dr, County Club Dr, Auto Park Way, Highway 56, N Centre City Parkway, W Valley Parkway, N Juniper St, Highway 78, N Hickory St, E Mission Ave, Martin Dr, E Lincoln Ave, N Ash St, E Grand Ave, Bear Valley Parkway, Old Guerjito Rd, San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park, San Pasqual Trails Openspace, San Dieguito River Park, Bandy Canyon Rd, Santa Maria Creek, Highland Valley Rd, West Ridge Trail, Palmer Dr/Summerfield Ln, Pomerado Rd, and Carmel Mountain Ranch Openspace. The 50th and 49th are partitioned by Gopher Canyon Rd, Camino Cantera, Corre Camino, Tierra del Cielo, Elevado Rd, Vista Grande Dr, Warmlands Ave, Queens Way, Canciones del Cielo, Camino Loma Verde, Alessandro Trail, Friendly Dr, Edgehill Rd, Catalina Heights Way, Deeb Ct, Foothill Dr, Clarence Dr, Highway S14, Smilax Rd, Poinsetta Ave, W San Marcos Blvd, Diamond Trail Preserve, S Rancho Santa Rd, San Elijo Rd, Rancho Summitt Dr, Escondido Creek, El Camino del Norte, San Elijo Lagoon, Highland Dr, Avacado Pl, Jimmy Durante Blvd, San Dieguito Dr, 8th St, Nob Ave, Highway S21, and the San Diego Northern Railway. The 50th and 51st are partitioned by Camino del Norte, Highway 15, Carmel Mountain Rd, Ted Williams Parkway, Del Mar Mesa Openspace, Los Penasquitos Creek, Inland Freeway, Governor Dr, Pavlov Ave, Stetson Ave, Millikin Ave, Regents Rd, Ducommun Ave, Bunch Ave, Branting St, Streseman St, Pennant Way, Highway 52, San Diego Freeway, Sea World Dr, Friars Rd, Kumeyaay Highway, and Highway 805. The 50th and 52nd are partitioned by Iowa St, University Ave, Inland Freeway, Escondido Freeway, Martin Luther King Jr Freeway, John J Montgomery Freeway, and San Diego Bay.

Cities and CDPs with 10,000 or more people

– 1,388,320 * Escondido – 151,038 * Rancho Bernardo – 133,481 * San Marcos – 94,833 *

– 20,192

2,500 – 10,000 people

* Lake San Marcos – 5,328 * Rancho Santa Fe – 3,156 * Fairbanks Ranch – 3,002

List of members representing the district

Elections results

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006 (special)

Representative Cunningham resigned on November 28, 2005, as a result of a bribery scandal. An open

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held on April 11, 2006. The top vote getter was Democrat Francine Busby, who won 44% of the vote. The second-place finisher was Republican Brian Bilbray, who won 15% of the vote. Paul King was the top Libertarian party vote getter, with 0.6% of the vote. Since no candidate received a simple majority, the top vote-getters in each party competed in a runoff or special

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

on June 6, 2006 (the same day as the statewide California primary). Bilbray was sworn in on June 13, based on unofficial counts, two weeks before the election was certified. As a consequence of this action, a court challenge to the election results filed by voters was denied on jurisdictional grounds. This decision was appealed unsuccessfully.

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

44th district

In the 1980s, was one of four encompassing

. The district had been held for eight years by Democrat Jim Bates and was considered the most Democratic district in the San Diego area. However, Bates became bogged down in a

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

involving charges of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

. Randy "Duke" Cunningham won the Republican nomination and hammered Bates about the scandal. Cunningham won by a point. The San Diego area was represented entirely by Republicans for only the second time since the city was split into three districts after the

1960 United States census The 1960 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 179,323,175, an increase of 19 percent over the 151,325,798 persons Enumeration, enumerated ...

. After his victory, Cunningham changed his official residence from his Del Mar home to a condominium in the

Mission Valley Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the City of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Mi ...

neighborhood in San Diego, so that he was perceived as residing in the district that he represented in Congress.

41st district

In the 1980s, was another of four encompassing

. The northern

district had been held for 12 years by Republican Bill Lowery and was considered the most Republican district in the San Diego area. Most of the district became the after state redistricting following the

1990 United States census The 1990 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 census. Approximatel ...

. In 1992, Cunningham campaigned against Lowery in Lowery's district in the Republican primary. The new 51st district was more dominated by ethnic whites and was more conservative than Cunningham's more urban, former 41st district located farther south. Lowery was tainted by the House check kiting scandal and lost the primary to Cunningham. The latter, a Navy career officer, had run on a campaign theme of "A Congressman We Can Be Proud Of." After winning, Cunningham changed his official residence back to his Del Mar home in the old 41st/new 51st district.

2003-13

From 2003 to 2013, the 50th district consisted of the northern coastal region of

and included the suburbs of San Marcos, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, and Escondido. CA_50th_109th_Congress

2013-23

In popular culture

On November 29, 2005,

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'' declared on his show that the 50th congressional district was "dead" to him after its insufficient support for his "friend" Duke Cunningham. Colbert placed the district on the show's ever-changing "Dead to Me" board, saying that he now considered the number of congressional districts in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to be 434. (The number became 433 when he retired the for its insufficient support for

Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congress ...

.) On March 1, 2006, he "downgraded" the 50th district's status from "dead to me" to "never existed to me". List of The Colbert Report episodes, episodes 122 and 226.

References

External links

* sdvote.com
San Diego Voter Registrar
* sos.ca.gov
Secretary of State Padilla Announces Results of Randomized Alphabet Drawing for June 7 Presidential Primary Election Ballots
* GovTrack.us
California's 50th congressional district
{{DEFAULTSORT:California's 50th Congressional District 50 Government of San Diego County, California Political districts in Riverside County, California East County (San Diego County) North County (San Diego County) Escondido, California Ramona, San Diego County, California San Marcos, California Santee, California Temecula, California Valley Center, California Constituencies established in 1993 1993 establishments in California