With near-final results in from California’s 50th District (suburban San Diego), former Republican Rep. Darrell Issa — known as a dogged antagonist of President Barack Obama and strong ally of President Donald Trump — will return to Congress.
Issa, who represented the neighboring 49th District from 2000-2018, was declared the winner this weekend over two-time Democrat candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar with 53.8% of the vote.
Like Trump, Issa, 67, is a polarizing politician. As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform during the Obama years, the Californian launched investigations into the “Fast and Furious” gun trafficking scandal in Arizona — which led to his committee holding then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt — and into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.
Democrats frequently likened Issa to controversial Sen. Joe McCarthy, R-Wis., and his investigations in the early 1950s into Communist infiltration of the U.S. government.
In his last race from the 49th District in 2016, Issa became the only House Republican whose opponent benefited from a personal appearance from Obama himself. Issa nearly lost that year.
As a candidate this year, Issa underscored his strong support of and good relationship with Trump. Following the election last week, Issa tweeted that he stood with the president “just as you have stood with me from 2016 until today” and denounced efforts to keep poll watchers out of certain recounts as “completely unacceptable.”
After announcing his retirement in 2018, Issa was named by Trump as head of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, however, never took up his nomination.
He will succeed former Republican Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, who resigned amid charges of misusing campaign funds and is now serving a prison sentence.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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