Here's a quick guide to the two candidates vying for the 50th Congressional District seat:
Rep. Duncan D. Hunter
-- Duncan Hunter has served as U.S. Representative for the 50th Congressional District since 2013. The 41-year-old Republican has been a congressman since 2008.
Hunter was born in San Diego and graduated from Granite Hills High School, and then earned a Business Administration degree from San Diego State University.
According to Hunter’s website, he went on to join the Marine Corps following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Hunter served three tours of duty in the Middle East, and he was honorably discharged in 2005.
In 2008, Hunter entered the political arena and was victorious in the race to replace his father, Rep. Duncan L. Hunter, who was retiring and vacating his 52nd District seat after 14 terms.
However, during his first term, the younger Hunter -- a Marine reservist -- was recalled and deployed to Afghanistan.
Following his return from military service, Hunter went on to win his 2010 reelection bid.
After the 52nd District was renumbered to the 50th in 2012, Hunter proceeded to win re-election that year, in 2014 and then in 2016.
Hunter and his wife, Margaret, face federal charges after being accused of misusing campaign funds to pay for extravagant vacations and other personal expenses.
About a month after Election Day, the Hunters are scheduled to return to court for a hearing in their case.
Ammar Campa-Najjar
-- Though he is a first-time political candidate, 29-year-old Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar has experience working in the U.S. government, particularly his time spent in the Obama administration.
Campa-Najjar was born in San Diego’s East County and is a graduate of Southwestern College and San Diego State University.
After college, Campa-Najjar began work as a Deputy Regional Field Director for President Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012. Following the election, he took a job at the White House in the Executive Office, his website says.
Campa-Najjar moved on to a role at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and then served in a leadership role within the U.S. Department of Labor.
During the campaign, Campa-Najjar has been labeled a national security risk by Hunter’s campaign due to his Palestinian heritage.
Hunter has questioned Campa-Najjar’s background, linking him to his grandfather’s involvement in the 1972 terrorist incident at the Munich Olympic Games.
