Democrats hope to narrow the GOP 59-seat majority in Congress by unseating Issa. NBC 7’s Liberty Zabala reports.
With just two days left before the election, Congressional candidates Darrell Issa and Doug Applegate are locked in a tight race.
Both candidates are crisscrossing the 49th district (North County and the southern part of Orange County) to try to get out the vote.
Issa was at the Carlsbad Street Faire Sunday and Applegate plans to rally with California Attorney General Kamala Harris in La Jolla Monday.
Issa, the Republican incumbent congressman, was first elected to congress 16 years ago, but has faced a barrage of negative advertising from his Democratic opponent for his support of Donald Trump.
“Darrell Issa was Trump before Trump and the newspapers from coast to coast refer to Darrell Issa as a mini-Trump,” Applegate tells NBC 7.
The race is so close Democrats think they can take it, pouring more than 2 million dollars in TV ads to boost Applegate.
“The seat is definitely winnable and that's why the attention's been focused,” Applegate adds.
“When outside groups spend not just two or three or four but probably six or seven million total on somebody who won't debate or somebody who won't talk on the issues, that says they really have a weak candidate,” Issa says of Applegate.
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Issa says compared to Hillary Clinton he finds Donald Trump “less bad.”
Despite the back and forth, both candidates say they want to end their campaigns on a positive message.
