Darrell Issa Announces Retirement From The House

SAN DIEGO — Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is calling it quits — again.

Issa, a polarizing fixture of Southern California politics for more than two decades and an ally of President Donald Trump, announced he will retire at the end of his term – a decision that could help Democrats win his district in the midterms.

Issa made the announcement Friday, soon after the deadline passed to register as a candidate in a district that was redrawn last year and transformed from one that heavily favored Republicans to one that now gives Democrats the edge.

Issa’s unexpected decision is an about-face from less than three months ago, when the veteran lawmaker declared “I’m not quitting on California” after briefly considering running for a Texas congressional seat instead.

“This decision has been on my mind for a while and I didn’t make it lightly,” Issa said in a statement on Friday. “First, we built the right campaign infrastructure, support has been overwhelming — including from President Trump — and our polling was unmistakable: We would win this race. But after a quarter-century in Congress — and before that, a quarter-century in business — it’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges.”

Issa said he was giving San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond his “enthusiastic endorsement” in the race to succeed him. Desmond had previously planned to run in a neighboring district, but filed for Issa’s seat Friday morning, amid speculation that Issa would drop out.

Issa, a former Army officer and CEO of a manufacturer of anti-theft devices, has been active in politics since the 1990s. He leveraged his personal wealth to run for Senate in 1998, losing to Barbara Boxer, before running successfully for a San Diego-area House seat in 2000.

He climbed to the top tier of Republican power players when he zealously investigated the Obama administration during his stint as chair of the House Oversight Committee.

The probes made him a top target for Democrats as his once-reliably GOP district spanning San Diego and Orange counties morphed into a purple seat. After eking out a surprisingly tough win in 2016, Issa decided to retire in 2018 instead of facing the blue wave that swept the midterms that year.

That retirement was short-lived. Issa ran and won in a more conservative district in 2020 and had enjoyed a safe seat until Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional lines, passed last November.

The seat became a genuine toss-up that, under the new lines, backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by three points in 2024. Several Democrats are vying for the district, including Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former Department of Labor official and Navy Reservist whom Issa defeated in 2020, and Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego city councilmember.

Democrats celebrated the news of Issa’s retirement and expressed confidence they would flip the seat in November.

“After over two decades of disastrous representation, Darrell Issa is once again running for the exits – and good riddance. Issa abandoning his voters now is the clearest sign yet that Republicans know he can’t win on his record of skyrocketing prices, gutting health care, and looking out for himself and wealthy special interests above all else,” said Anna Elsasser, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Any Republican who tries to parachute into this race with the same extreme agenda will face the same fate.”

The National Republican Campaign Committee lauded Issa’s “decades of dedicated service” in a statement and projected confidence that Republicans could hold onto the seat.

“We are optimistic that this district will continue to be represented by a Republican who will stand for common sense and reject the radical agenda and chaos that progressive Marni von Wilpert and socialist Ammar Campa-Najjar would bring,” NRCC spokesperson Christian Martinez said in a statement.

Desmond, in a statement after Issa’s announcement, said he “couldn’t be more excited” to run for Issa’s seat.

“For more than two decades, I've had the privilege of serving this community — first as a local mayor, then as your County Supervisor,” he said. “I've fought to keep taxes low, hold government accountable, and protect the quality of life that makes this region so special.”

Blake Jones contributed to this report.