Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R) Elected 1990, 8th term
Born:	Dec. 8, 1941, Los Angeles
Home:	San Diego
Education:	U. of MO, B.A. 1964, M.S. 1965, National U., M.B.A. 1985
Religion:	Christian
Marital Status:	married (Nancy)
Military Career:	Navy, 1966-87 (Vietnam).
Professional Career:	Teacher, Hinsdale H.S., 1965-66; Businessman, 1987-90.
DC Office	2350 RHOB20515, 202-225-5452; Fax: 202-225-2558; Web site: www.house.gov/cunningham
State Offices	Escondido, 760-737-8438.
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Update: December 16, 2005
On July 14, 2005, Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham announced he would not seek reelection in 2006. On December 6, Cunningham resigned from Congress after he pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and four counts of conspiracy. A special open primary election to replace him has been scheduled for April 11, 2006. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top vote-getters from each party will compete in a June 6 runoff, timed to coincide with the date of California's regularly scheduled primary election.

Soledad Mountain looms over La Jolla, the affluent San Diego neighborhood, overlooking the Pacific Ocean to the west, the hills of San Diego and, past them, the flat expanse of Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. Here a visitor to San Diego can stand in the sunshine and see the Blue Angels perform aerial stunts. It is a sight no one could have seen half a century before: Miramar then was a small airfield, military planes could do nothing like those stunts and San Diego, even after heavy activity in its Navy bases in World War II, was still a urban small center well to the south. Most of the land you would see looking east and north from Soledad Mountain was empty landscape. Since then San Diego has grown to become the nation's seventh-largest city. Development has jumped over Miramar, where plans are underway to locate a national veterans' cemetery, to the inland communities of Escondido and San Marcos and over the old Del Mar race track on the coast to Encinitas and Carlsbad. These are pleasant and affluent communities, attractively planned, many with red tile roofs that contrast with the tan hillsides. Local officials continue to explore sites to replace the San Diego airport, which is on a small piece of downtown land with little room for expansion.

The 50th Congressional District of California covers much of this part of San Diego County. About 40% of its population is in the city of San Diego, including most of scenic La Jolla, hillside Clairemont, Carmel Valley and University City to the west and, north of Miramar, Mira Mesa, Rancho Penasquitos and part of Rancho Bernardo. About 25% are on or near the coast, from Del Mar, where a 1,000 foot pier was opened in 1917 but washed away in 1926, to Encinitas and Carlsbad, home of the La Costa resort. Just inland is affluent Rancho Santa Fe, with its multi-million dollar mansions set amid rolling hills and lush greenery. About 30% of the people are in Escondido and San Marcos. Politically, this is Republican territory, more so as one gets away from the coast; it voted 55% for George W. Bush in 2004.

The congressman from the 50th District is Randy (Duke) Cunningham, a Republican first elected in 1990. Born the day after Pearl Harbor, he taught and coached swimming in Hinsdale, Illinois, and San Diego; in 1966, at 25, he joined the Navy and became one of the most decorated pilots in the Vietnam War. He then trained pilots at Miramar in the Top Gun program; he retired from the Navy in 1987 and started a business in San Diego. In 1990 he ran in a Democratic district against Congressman Jim Bates, who had been charged with sexual harassment. Cunningham beat a former ambassador to Qatar in the Republican primary 46%-30% and in the general beat Bates 46%-45%. In 1992, faced with a choice of districts to run in, he passed up the marginal and culturally more liberal area on the coast and ran here. Incumbent Bill Lowery, a Republican who had 300 overdrafts at the House bank, withdrew from the race, and Cunningham comfortably won the primary and general. He has not been seriously challenged since then.

Cunningham has a generally conservative voting record. He arrived just in time for the Gulf War debate and in his first years worked to make Filipino Gulf war veterans eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship (San Diego is home to a sizable Filipino community) and to prevent base closings in the San Diego area. In May 2005, the Pentagon's base closure recommendation list spared all major local installations but Cunningham was dismayed by the BRAC commission chairman's suggestion that the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego might be added to the list. Cunningham was one of four congressmen who in October 1992 met with George H.W. Bush and prompted him to ask questions about Bill Clinton's student trip to Moscow and Eastern Europe, an issue that hurt the Republican ticket. After Republicans gained the majority in 1994, he switched to the Appropriations Committee and has assignments on its two subcommittees with the largest budgets: Defense and Labor-HHS-Education. He has been a forceful advocate of more defense spending. Cunningham has pressed for stricter enforcement of immigration laws and sponsored a "no frills prison act." He successfully opposed efforts to terminate registration with the Selective Service, is a leading advocate of the constitutional amendment to bar flag desecration and co-sponsored legislation to ensure that military overseas ballots are counted. During the October 2002 debate on authorizing the use of force in Iraq, which he strongly supported, he broke down in tears as he recounted the sacrifices that members of the armed services make during war. When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testified about the budget in February 2005, Cunningham said that he was "very concerned" about proposed cuts in the F/A-22 Raptor and raised doubts about continued support of the F-35 joint strike fighter, which he called "an inferior airplane." On his limited work outside of Appropriations, after a decade-long effort, he passed in 2004 a bill to exempt current and retired law enforcement officers from state laws that prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns. In 2005, he took over as chairman of the Intelligence Subcommittee on Human Intelligence and Counterintelligence, an assignment that Republican leaders said was an ideal fit with his military experience.

Committees

• Appropriations (16th of 37 R): Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education & Related Agencies.
• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (3d of 12 R): Technical & Tactical Intelligence; Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis & Counterintelligence (Chmn.).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	5	0	13	9	100	54	100	92	81	100	--
2003	5	--	0	15	--	62	97	92	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	27%	--	71%		26%	--	73%
Social	5%	--	87%		9%	--	85%
Foreign	0%	--	89%		33%	--	66%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R)	169,025	58%	$939,542
	Francine Busby (D)	105,590	36%	$212,406
	Other	14,713	5%
2004 primary	Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R)	111,095	64%	$770,722
	Del Stewart (D)	55,855	32%	$19,713
	Other	5,751	3%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (64%); 1998 (61%); 1996 (65%); 1994 (67%); 1992 (56%); 1990 (46%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 169,935 (55%) Kerry (D) 135,007 (44%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 136,311 (54%) Gore (D) 107,436 (43%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fiftieth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 5
• District Size: 365 square miles
• Population in 2000: 639,087; 97.8% urban; 2.2% rural
• Median Household Income: $59,813; 8.1% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 15.7% blue collar; 70.8% white collar; 13.5% gray collar; 13.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 65.8% White, 1.8% Black, 10.3% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.2% Hawaiian, 2.6% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 18.8% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 11.5% German, 8.8% English, 8.6% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.