Give Now
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
  • Full Schedule
Watch Live

Politics

Republican VP Choice May Not Resonate In 52nd Congressional District

By Alison St John / Reporter
Published August 13, 2012 at 2:17 PM PDT
This story was published more than 11 years ago.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., points to piles of the health care overhaul legislation during a markup hearing before the U.S. House Budget Committee last year in Washington, D.C.
Alex Wong
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., points to piles of the health care overhaul legislation during a markup hearing before the U.S. House Budget Committee last year in Washington, D.C.
Republican VP Choice May Not Resonate In 52nd Congressional District
The addition of Paul Ryan as vice president on the Republican ticket could affect the 52nd Congressional race in San Diego, where polls show the incumbent, Republican Brian Bilbray, and challenger, Democrat Scott Peters, are running neck and neck.

The addition of Paul Ryan to the Republican ticket helps define the battle lines in November. It could also affect the local Congressional races in San Diego, especially the 52nd district where Republican Brian Bilbray is fighting to defend his seat from Democrat Scott Peters.

Peters said he believes the choice of Paul Ryan will not be popular with many of the voters in the newly redistricted 52nd district, which runs from Imperial Beach to Poway.

“We have a really pragmatic district,” Peters said, “we’re not the most partisan district - a third Republican, a third Democrat and a third independent. Paul Ryan represents really a Tea Party approach to government. I don’t think that’s going to be shared by most of the voters in the district, though that’s something Brian Bilbray has supported in the past.”

Advertisement
Become a KPBS sponsor

Bilbray has voted for the Ryan budget, which includes across-the-board tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, and spending cuts to health care and education. Bilbray was unavailable for comment. His staff said he is out of Washington D.C. this week, spending time with his daughter.

A poll released earlier this month by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shows Bilbray and Peters running neck-and-neck with 45 percent each, in spite of Bilbray’s greater name recognition. He has served in Congress for 12 years. (Note: correcting a previous version that said Bilbray served for "the past" 12 years. In fact he represented the 49th district from 1995 to 2001 before losing that seat to democrat Susan Davis. Then he won a special election in 2006 to complete the 50th district term of Randy Cunningham, who resigned after pleading guilty to bribery charges. Due to redistricting, the 50th district has now become the 52nd congressional district.)

The National Republican Congressional Committee has earmarked $1.7 million for airtime to defeat Peters. But the Democratic Congressional Committee and the Democratic House Majority PAC have promised a total of $2.9 million to air ads attacking Bilbray.

Tags

Politics Voter Hub
Alison St John
Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.
More News