The most insane race of the midterms

Welcome to California's 50th congressional district, where the sitting congressman faces campaign finance violations while accusing his challenger of terrorist sympathies

Duncan Hunter and Ammar Campa-Najjar.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images, Campa-Najjar for Congress via AP, File, AP Photo/Kurt Strumpf, REUTERS/Mike Blake)

Regardless of the eventual outcome, it's fair to say the race in California's 50th Congressional District between a sitting Republican congressman indicted for campaign finance violations and a populist Democrat is one of the strangest in this year's midterm election cycle.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R) has been in Congress since 2009. His district, which was previously represented by his father, is considered the most conservative in the state. Hunter has distinguished himself in Congress with his hardline position on immigration and his views on climate change. "Nobody really knows the cause," he told the San Diego East Chamber of Commerce in 2009. "It could be caused by carbon dioxide or methane. Maybe we should kill the cows to stop the methane, or stop breathing to stop the CO2. Thousands of people die every year of cold, so if we had global warming it would save lives."

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Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.