NORTH COUNTY — A game of political musical chairs broke out Friday after the news of the retirement of longtime Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA).
His retirement triggered a chain reaction among local Republicans over the newly drawn 48th and 49th Congressional districts. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who was running against Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) in the 49th, announced he will run for the 48th seat. Issa endorsed Desmond on Friday.
Armen Kurdian, a Vista Republican and member of the party’s Central Committee, will now run against Levin in the 49th. With Kurdian’s departure, Republican Laura Basset of Oceanside will run against state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) in the District 38 race.
The deadline to change districts is Friday.
“They drew me into the district, but the truth is, I’ve been serving this community for years,” Desmond said in a press release. “I was the Mayor of San Marcos. I raised my family here. I know what’s keeping families up at night: the cost of living, public safety, and a government that too often gets in the way instead of getting things done.”
Desmond has raised more than $1.5 million for his Congressional run and deep roots in the district. He served as mayor of San Marcos for 12 years before being elected twice to the Board of Supervisors representing District 5.
He said he enters the race ready to fight for working families on the issues that matter most: bringing down the cost of living, keeping communities safe, and restoring the American Dream for the next generation.
Kurdian, a U.S. Navy veteran, said he was happy to step up into a congressional race, noting the 49th district overlaps the 38th, so his campaign won’t lose much momentum.
“Whether at the local, state, or federal level, my mission remains the same: to lower the cost of living, help small businesses thrive, expand access to housing for all income levels, reduce energy costs, and restore academic excellence in our schools,” Kurdian said in a statement. “These changes have come quickly, but I’ve never shied away from adapting to meet the moment. My desire to serve has always been about you, not me — and I will bring my experience and dedication where they can make the greatest difference.”
But the 48th District race has a crowded field, mostly Democrats fighting to finish in the top two of the June primary and advance to the November general election.
Two of the biggest Democratic names running are San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert and four-time candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar, who lost to Issa twice and lost his mayoral race in Chula Vista in 2022. Those two have locked up all the major local and federal endorsements, although the San Diego County Democratic Party has yet to endorse a candidate.
According to La Prensa, Campa-Najjar, who is dating Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-50), has raised $820,000, while von Wilpert has raised $520,000.
From left are San Diego Democrats Ammar Campa-Najjar, Marni von Wilpert and Corinna Contreras, who are all running for the 48th Congressional District seat. Steve Puterski image
Campa-Najjar, a Navy veteran, came under fire by the LGBTQ community in February when Campa-Najjar circulated a campaign memo stating Palm Springs candidates, specifically Will Rollins, Christy Holstege, and Lisa Middleton, did not win their elections to higher office because they lacked broad appeal and “couldn’t reach voters beyond Palm Springs,” the memo reads.
Rollins and Holstege are gay, while Middleton is transgender, according to reports. Palm Springs and other areas north of San Diego County were added to the 48th Congressional District as part of the controversial Proposition 50 to redistrict the state.
Escondido, Vista, San Marcos, north Oceanside, east Carlsbad, Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Hemet, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Desert Hot Springs are now part of the 48th District. According to state records, 32% of voting-age residents in the new 48th District are Latino, while veterans will account for at least 5% with the addition of the new cities.
The memo states von Wilpert would “fail to win over Latinos and veterans.”
However, LGBTQ advocates and candidates, such as von Wilpert, who is bisexual, ripped Campa-Najjar’s memo.
“The memo names multiple LGBTQ candidates who have run for office in the region and lambastes their supposed ‘inability to reach voters beyond Palm Springs,’ – language leaders say is a thinly veiled anti-LGBTQ dog whistle targeting the heavily LGBTQ city and its representatives,” von Wilpert said in a statement. The memo then labels Marni von Wilpert, who is also openly bisexual, ‘a candidate in the same vein.’ LGBTQ leaders, including those referenced in the memo, say the implication is clear and offensive — particularly in a Democratic primary at a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack nationwide.”
Additionally, Vista City Councilwoman Corinna Contreras, who is gay and dating Vista City Councilwoman Katie Melendez, is mounting a grassroots campaign, while Palm Springs candidates Marc Iannarino and Brandon Riker, who in 2016 briefly ran for Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, are also running.
The passage of Prop. 50, which many have called gerrymandering, redistricted the state’s congressional maps through 2030 in an attempt to give California five more Democratic seats in the House of Representatives. The map was a reaction to a court case in Texas, in which Texas Republicans sought a new map to give five more seats to Republicans.
The 49th District also saw a significant shift as Orange County cities were gutted from the district. Levin lives in Orange County, but congressional candidates are not required to live in the district they represent.
The proposal has coastal and south Carlsbad, coastal and south Oceanside, Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Carmel Valley and Torrey Pines. Levin’s district would see a four-point bump under the new map.
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