The newest member of Congress, Orange County's John Campbell, flew to Washington on Wednesday to claim his House seat as both sides in the debate over illegal immigration declared victory after a race closely watched as a possible preview of the 2006 elections.
Backers of Campbell, an Irvine Republican, said his Tuesday night win with 45% of the vote over Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the civilian Minuteman border patrol, showed that a tough stance on immigration issues was not enough to sway voters -- even in the birthplace of Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that targeted illegal immigrants.
"It looks like it didn't work out for Jimmy One-Note," said Orange County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh. "This race was over the day John Campbell filed papers."
But advocates of a border crackdown took heart in Gilchrist's 25% showing as an insurgent running under the banner of the American Independent Party, saying it proved the power the issue could have next year in congressional races across the country.
"When you can get that many people stirred up in a district that is so solidly Republican, just think about what this means," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican and one of the foremost congressional advocates of a border crackdown, who broke GOP ranks to support Gilchrist. Both major parties, Tancredo said, had "better start paying attention."
Others without a direct stake in the immigration issue agreed.
"It's not at the very top tier. It's not up there with combating terrorism or protecting jobs. But it's certainly in the second tier," said pollster Andrew Kohut, president of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, who said illegal immigration could become a hotter issue with increased concern about the economy and U.S. engagement abroad.
Campbell won the seat by placing first in a field of five, but the competition between him and Gilchrist dominated the race. A day after the special election to replace veteran Congressman Christopher Cox, now chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, both men were looking ahead.
"Right away, I expect to be voting to make the Bush income tax cuts permanent, to cut the growth in future domestic spending programs and to allow drilling for oil in the vast domestic supply fields of Alaska," Campbell, 50, wrote in his online journal. He took office after being sworn in Wednesday by House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois.
