UPDATE: 6:49 a.m., Nov. 9, 2016:
Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, has retained his congressional seat.
With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Peters had 56.7 percent of the vote, while his Republican challenger Denise Gitsham had 43.3 percent of the vote.
UPDATE: 11:50 p.m., Nov. 8, 2016:
Democratic incumbent Rep. Scott Peters is maintaining his lead in his effort to retain his congressional seat.
Peters has 57.2 percent, or 57,931 of the votes cast. His challenger, Republican Denise Gitsham, has 42.8 percent, or 43,338 votes. Nearly 30 percent of precincts have reported.
UPDATE: 8:35 p.m., Nov. 8, 2016:
Incumbent Rep. Scott Peters has taken an early lead against his challenger, Denise Gitsham.
Peters, a Democrat, has garnered 57.5 percent, or 49,538 of the votes already counted. Gitsham, a Republican, has 42.5 percent, or 36,672 votes. A little over 15 percent of the precincts are reporting.
Original post:
Over the last couple elections, the 52nd Congressional District had among the tightest congressional contests in the country.
This year has been considerably quieter. In the primary, incumbent Democrat Scott Peters easily beat his Republican challenger, businesswoman Denise Gitsham in a six-way race. Peters won 59 percent of the vote to Gitsham’s 16 percent.
The two face off in the Nov. 8 general election.
Who is running?
Peters won his seat in 2012, defeating the Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray. In 2014, Peters narrowly defeated his Republican challenger Carl DeMaio.
The district has been slowly changing. In the last two years, Republicans lost a slim advantage in the number of registered voters. Registered Democrats now outnumber Republicans in the 52nd District by 34.5 percent to 32.4 percent.
This year, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said Peter’s seat is likely to remain Democratic. The congressman has been outraising Gitsham, taking in $3.3 million as of the Sept. 30 reporting deadline. Gitsham raised $1.2 million over the same time frame.
After the lopsided primary, the district has not attracted outside money the way it did in 2014, when outside groups fueled a barrage of negative ads.
What are the issues?
This year, Peters is outlining his support for women’s health issues and gun legislation. Gitsham is touting her story as a daughter of Chinese and Canadian immigrants and her support for strengthening the business environment.
The 52nd Congressional District includes Coronado, Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, University City, Carmel Valley, Clairemont, Linda Vista, Tierrasanta, San Carlos, Mira Mesa, Rancho Peñasquitos, Scripps Ranch, Poway and Rancho Bernardo.
