Reply #35: CA: Disgraced Lawmaker Looms Large In House Race [View All]

[EFerrari]

Disgraced Lawmaker Looms Large In House Race

Polls Open At 7 A.M. On Tuesday

POSTED: 10:29 am PDT April 10, 2006
UPDATED: 11:07 am PDT April 10, 2006

SAN DIEGO -- Ethics matter, and if there are any doubts just consider how the scandal of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the former GOP congressman doing prison time for tax evasion and bribery, has cast a shadow over a House election.

This solid Republican district on the Southern California coast should be a cakewalk for the GOP in Tuesday's contest to choose Cunningham's successor. Complicating the Republican outlook, however, is Democrat Francine Busby, whose campaign has shone a harsh spotlight on corruption, and an everyone-on-the-ballot format involving 18 candidates.

"You have to be perceived as pure if you want a shot in this campaign," said pollster John Nienstedt.

Cunningham represented California's 50th Congressional District from 1993 until he resigned in disgrace late last year. In March, he was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison on charges of evading taxes and accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/politics/8597824/detail.html?rss=dgo&psp=news