Indicted GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter leads race by 8 points despite financial controversy

Indictment, shmindictment. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is still in the lead in his congressional race.

Hunter and his wife were indicted on charges of wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy last week. The Justice Department accused the couple of spending more than $250,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses like vacations, clothes, video games, and a plane ticket for a pet rabbit.

Despite the allegations, Hunter is the frontrunner in California's 50th District, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday, citing a Survey USA poll. He leads by 8 points over Ammar Campa-Najjar, his Democratic challenger. Hunter is polling at 47 percent, while Campa-Najjar has 39 percent, with 13 percent undecided.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Hunter's lead is shrinking slightly in the deeply conservative district, reports the Union-Tribune, as Campa-Najjar picks up some swing voters. Hunter has represented the region for the last five years and generally enjoys strong support, especially among Republicans. However, 42 percent of voters polled by Survey USA said they were less likely to vote for him as a result of the federal charges. After he was indicted, Hunter called the charges "pure politics" and pleaded not guilty. He said he paid the money back into the campaign and denied criminal wrongdoing.

The Survey USA poll was conducted Aug. 22 through Aug. 26, reaching 850 adults in the district by phone. See more poll results at Survey USA.