A candidate running for the 50th District congressional seat is likely to be familiar to voters.
Francine Busby made her candidacy for the North County seat official on Thursday at noon at Cottonwood Park in her hometown of Encinitas. Dozens of supporters attended the event, which was replete with a flag, cute children to interact with and campaign signs.
"I am running to be your representative in the beautiful 50th District of California," Busby said. "I haven't learned much about texting and Twittering yet, but I'm going to. But what I have learned is that Americans know the difference against between politics and principle.... At times when we've had to go back and retake that ground we've lost and make sure that we got back on track with principle when politics had taken us off the track -- right now I think we're in one of those transformative moments in our history."
Busby went on to note that the voters of the 50th District had gone for Obama in '08, calling it a minor miracle. Busby asserts that the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, no longer represents the interests of a majority of voters in the district.
Escondido attorney Tracy Emblem has also announced she will seek the Democratic Party's nomination for the seat in 2010, according to the North County Times.
This is the fourth time Busby is making a play for the seat. She was defeated in 2004 by Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who left office in disgrace and was sentenced to prison on corruption charges. She then faced off twice in 2006 against Bilbray -- once in a special election to replace Cunningham, then again five months later in the general election.
In 2008, Bilbray was re-elected, handing Nick Leibham a defeat at the polls.
Bilbray's chief of staff, Steve Danon, told the paper he thought his boss's old foe "has a long journey ahead."
