Brian Bilbray

 

Brian Bilbray
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 50th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 4, 1995 – January 3, 2001 June 13, 2006 – present
Preceded by	Lynn Schenk Duke Cunningham
Succeeded by	Susan Davis Incumbent
Born	January 28 1951 (1951--) (age 56) Coronado, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Karen Bilbray
Religion	Roman Catholic

Brian Phillip Bilbray (born January 28, 1951) is a U.S. Republican politician, who is a member of the United States House of Representatives, first serving from 1995 to 2001, representing California's 49th congressional district. After that, he was a registered lobbyist. On June 6, 2006, Bilbray won a special election as representative for California's 50th congressional district to serve out the remaining seven months of the term of former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Bilbray won re-election in the November 2006 general election.

Early life

Bilbray was born in Coronado, California, and grew up in Imperial Beach, California. He graduated from Mar Vista High School and attended Southwestern College, a community college in Chula Vista, California. He worked as a tax consultant before entering politics.

He and his wife, the former Karen Walker, have five children. He is a cousin of former Nevada Democratic Representative James Bilbray.

Mayor and supervisor

Bilbray became interested in politics when an extensive program of eminent domain was proposed for Imperial Beach. He ran successfully for the city council as a populist, serving during 1976–1978, and was mayor during 1978–1985.

As mayor, Bilbray attempted to build a yacht marina in the Tijuana Estuary and to build a 1.5 mile breakwater off of the beach of Imperial Beach.^[1] Both projects were stopped by the opposition of local environmentalists and surfers. The Tijuana River Estuary is now a National Estuarine Research Reserve and California State Park. The breakwater project was halted with the help of the then fledgling Surfrider Foundation. Bilbray often took on a bureaucracy that he felt was sometimes too slow. For example, frustrated when sewage from Mexico caused closure of his city's beaches and government agencies did to little to solve the problem, Bilbray summoned the news media, hopped aboard an earthmover, and began building a dam.

From 1985 to 1995, Bilbray was a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. He was a principal architect of the calamitous trash-to-energy recycling plant in San Marcos, a debacle that, for the county, was the equal of the city of San Diego's pension disaster.^[2][3]

Member of Congress, 1995–2001

In 1994, Bilbray won the Republican nomination for the 49th district, now the 53rd district, which included most of San Diego, and defeated freshman Democrat Lynn Schenk in the Republican landslide of that year. The 53rd was one of several marginal districts to go Republican in that cycle; Schenk had been the only Democrat to represent the district since its creation in 1953.

While in Congress, Bilbray wrote letters on behalf of dietary supplement manufacturer Metabolife, whose ephedra supplement was later banned by the FDA for presenting an "unreasonable risk of illness or injury".^[4] Metabolife was a contributor to Bilbray's campaign.^[5]

Bilbray was reelected twice. In 2000, he was defeated by State Assemblywoman Susan Davis. Bilbray's support of a proposed airport at Brown Field in Otay Mesa cost him heavy local support in his hometown of Imperial Beach.

Lobbyist

In 2001, Bilbray registered as a federal lobbyist. His clients included the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians and Federation for American Immigration Reform, the San Diego Regional Airport Authority, Conquer Cancer and Alzheimer's Now, Los Angeles County, San Diego Gas and Electric Company.

The Hill, a D.C. political newspaper, reported that several sources, including a Republican lawmaker, complained Bilbray used his "floor privileges" as a former congressman to lobby members of Congress on the House floor. Bilbray denied the charge.^[6]

Two of Bilbray's clients were particularly notable:

• Bilbray had been involved with the Bajagua sewage treatment project while in office, and had received campaign contributions from the project (earlier known as Agua Clara). In 1999, he and another lawmaker crafted a bill that forced the State Department to renegotiate with Mexico to allow for the project.^[7] As a lobbyist, Bilbray was paid $35,000 by Bajagua Project LLC for his lobbying work. Bilbray lobbied to help the company obtain a sole-source contract to treat sewage in Mexico with the International Boundary and Water Commission.^[8]

• From May 2002 until July 2005, Bilbray was a lobbyist for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), founded by John Tanton. "It was something I believed in," said Bilbray, "and not just because someone was paying me." As a lobbyist, Bilbray was paid $300,000 by the group.^[9] He is currently on FAIR's board of advisors. In 2006, he received nearly $10,000 in campaign contributions from members of FAIR's board of directors: Nancy Anthony, Sharon Barnes, General Douglas E. Caton, Sarah Epstein, Stephen Swensrud and Alan Weeden.^[10]

2006 special congressional election

Main article: California 50th congressional district special election, 2006

Bilbray ran in the 2006 special election to fill the vacancy in California's 50th congressional district caused by the resignation in December 2005 of Duke Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and tax evasion. In March of 2005, Bilbray moved from to Carlsbad, California, to take care of his mother, who owns a home there.^[11].

The race to assume Cunningham's seat was highly contested, especially on the Republican side, with 14 Republicans (compared only 2 Democrats) officially running for the position. Leading up to the initial all-candidate election that would determine the parties' candidates in a runoff election, Bilbray was in a virtual tie with Republican businessman Eric Roach [1], slightly ahead of former State Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian. Four days prior to the election, businessman Alan Uke, one of the major Republican candidates, ran an attack ad accusing Roach of outsourcing thousands of jobs at the expense of American workers. [2] In the initial all-party special election on April 11, 2006, Bilbray was the Republican candidate with the most votes, receiving 15.26% of the total vote to Roach's 14.50%. He then faced the top votegetters of all the other parties in a runoff election on June 6, 2006: Democrat Francine Busby, Libertarian Paul King, and William Griffith, an independent.

During the campaign, Arizona Senator John McCain cancelled a planned fundraiser for Bilbray at the last minute, after Bilbray called McCain's immigration bill "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.^[12] McCain later contributed money to Bilbray's campaign and voiced a radio commercial for the National Republican Congressional Committee in support of Bilbray's race against Busby^[13].

Bilbray won the runoff with 49% of the vote, and was sworn in on June 13, 2006 as a member of the Congress. The Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute raised several concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the vote count.^[14] An election contest lawsuit sought a hand recount.^[15] The court dismissed the suit on the basis that, once the House of Representatives had sworn in Bilbray, the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the challenge.^[16]

109th Congress

During the 109th Congress Congressman Brian Bilbray served on the House Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Government Reform Committees. Since his swearing in June Congressman Bilbray co-authored legislation that led to the transfer of the Mount Soledad Veteran's Memorial from the City of San Diego to the federal government. He also authored legislation that would have reformed the federal budget process.

2006 general election

Bilbray and Busby each won their party's primary, and faced each other again in the November general election.

With the advantage of incumbency and the Republican edge in registrations in the district, Bilbray was initially a clear favorite to win in November. Both the Cook Political Report and CQPolitics first rated the race as Republican Favored. But Busby gained in October, with a late-October poll by SurveyUSA showed Bilbray ahead by just 3 points, for a number of reasons: the general political climate seen as disadvantageous to the GOP, Busby's outraising Bilbray, and Bilbray's low profile campaign. On October 23, CQPolitics changed their rating to Leans Republican.^[17]

Since his loss to Congresswoman Susan Davis in 2001 Congressman Bilbray has maintained residences and properties in Imperial Beach, California, Alexandria, Virginia, and Carlsbad, California. In response to requests to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, by the local Democratic Party and neighbors of the Congressman, a San Diego County grand jury was convened to investigate claims against the Congressman Bilbray's declared residency for the Special and General Elections in 2006.^[18]. The grand jury has not issued a report on their investigation. The investigation was dropped in May of 2007.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2006 midterm election, Bilbray defeated Busby by a margin of 54.2%-43.5%. Bilbray ran as an opponent of illegal immigration.

Positions

During his first stint in Congress, Billbray was one of the more moderate members of the Republican freshman class of 1994. He was relatively liberal on most social issues while conservative on fiscal matters.^[19][20]

During his second run for Congress, Bilbray's hard-line stance on immigration won over many of the district's more conservative voters. He appears to have drifted further to the right; soon after Congress reconvened in 2007, Bilbray joined the ultraconservative Republican Study Committee.

References

External links

• U.S. Congressman Brian Bilbray official House site
• Brian Bilbray at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Brian P. Bilbray campaign finance reports and data
• Official campaign website
• Surfing Congressmen Gut Environmental Laws Swing magazine, 1996
• On the Issues — Brian Bilbray issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Brian P. Bilbray campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Brian P. Bilbray (CA) profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Brian Bilbray voting record
• Bilbray for Congress official campaign site
• Surfing Congressmen Gut Environmental Laws Swing magazine, March 1996

Preceded by Lynn Schenk	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 49th congressional district 1995–2001	Succeeded by Susan A. Davis
Preceded by Duke Cunningham	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 50th congressional district June 13, 2006 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by John Campbell	United States order of precedence as of 2006	Succeeded by Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin Faleomavaega, Jr.

California's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators	Dianne Feinstein (D) · Barbara Boxer (D)
Representative(s)	Mike Thompson (D) · Wally Herger (R) · Dan Lungren (R) · John T. Doolittle (R) · Doris Matsui (D) · Lynn C. Woolsey (D) · George Miller (D) · Nancy Pelosi (D) · Barbara Lee (D) · Ellen Tauscher (D) · Jerry McNerney (D) · Tom Lantos (D) · Pete Stark (D) · Anna Eshoo (D) · Mike Honda (D) · Zoe Lofgren (D) · Sam Farr (D) · Dennis Cardoza (D) · George Radanovich (R) · Jim Costa (D) · Devin Nunes (R) · Kevin McCarthy (R) · Lois Capps (D) · Elton Gallegly (R) · Howard McKeon (R) · David Dreier (R) · Brad Sherman (D) · Howard Berman (D) · Adam Schiff (D) · Henry Waxman (D) · Xavier Becerra (D) · Hilda Solis (D) · Diane Watson (D) · Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) · Maxine Waters (D) · Jane Harman (D) · Laura Richardson (D) · Grace Napolitano (D) · Linda Sánchez (D) · Ed Royce (R) · Jerry Lewis (R) · Gary Miller (R) · Joe Baca (D) · Ken Calvert (R) · Mary Bono (R) · Dana Rohrabacher (R) · Loretta Sanchez (D) · John Campbell (R) · Darrell Issa (R) · Brian Bilbray (R) · Bob Filner (D) · Duncan Hunter (R) · Susan Davis (D)
All delegations	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands

Donate to Wikimedia