REGION — Republican and Democratic incumbent congressional leaders appear to maintain their seats representing areas of North San Diego County.
Although Republican Matt Gunderson leads in Orange County for the 49th Congressional District race, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep Mike Levin holds the lead in San Diego County and overall, with approximately 52% of the votes between both Orange and San Diego Counties so far.
The 49th District covers Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, southern Orange County cities including San Clemente, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel and parts of Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo, and northern San Diego County cities including Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar.
San Diego County has counted nearly 69% of the votes so far, with about 140,000 ballots to go. In Orange County, nearly 70% of its ballots have been counted.
The Associated Press declared Levin the winner on Nov. 12, securing his fourth term in office.
“This was a hard fought, competitive race and I am proud of the incredible work we put in as a team with hundreds of volunteers to get this over the finish line,” Levin stated. “We knocked on thousands of doors, called thousands of voters, and held town halls all throughout the district to share our message of successfully delivering bipartisan results for our residents.”
Levin cited passing 30 bipartisan laws and bringing back more than $1 billion in funding for projects that improve the overall quality of life for his district’s residents.
“We still have work to do to lower costs, secure our borders, protect Social Security and Medicare, remove the nuclear waste at San Onofre, put more sand on our beaches, and much more,” Levin continued. “I am committed to working with my colleagues from both parties on commonsense bipartisan solutions to our pressing challenges. We must come together to deliver for all American families. Let’s get to work.”
Republican incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa has secured another four-year term representing the 48th Congressional District with nearly 60% over voters in both San Diego and Riverside Counties over Democratic challenger Stephen Houlahan.
The 48th District covers the vast majority of San Diego’s East County, including communities like Fallbrook, Bonsall, Valley Center and portions of Escondido and Poway, and Riverside County’s Temecula Valley, including the cities of Temecula and Murrieta.
Democratic incumbent Rep. Scott Peters also won a landslide victory with 64% of the vote over Republican challenger Peter Bono for the 50th Congressional District, which covers a large portion of the city of San Diego, North County communities such as Rancho Santa Fe, Elfin Forest and Harmony Grove, and cities like San Marcos and portions of Escondido.
