Marine Reservist Duncan D. Hunter, running in the crowded 52nd district GOP primary to succeed his father, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R), had a solid lead over his competitors in an independent poll.

The survey, sponsored by the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation American Indian tribe, showed Hunter with 79 percent support in the primary, compared to 6 percent for Santee Councilman Brian Jones, and 2 percent each for San Diego County Board of Education President Bob Watkins and retired Army officer Rick Powell.

The poll also found that three-fourths of those surveyed were aware that Hunter is not the Congressman, but rather his son. This survey, of 400 likely GOP primary voters was conducted May 8-10, and had a margin of error of 4.9 points.

“While voters are clear on who the candidate is, the residual name identification from his father is a tremendous advantage,” according to the polling memo prepared by pollsters Richard Maullin and Jonathan Brown, of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates.

McClintock Raps House Republicans in New Flier

In his latest direct-mail appeal for votes in the 4th district GOP primary, state Sen. Tom McClintock (R) bashes House Republicans for how they governed during their 12 years in the majority, castigating them as profligate spenders who failed to address illegal immigration.

McClintock is running against former Rep. Doug Ose (R), who served in Congress for three terms before retiring in 2004, just two years before the Democrats regained control of the House. Ose previously represented the neighboring 3rd district.

In the mailer, McClintock says that the Republicans who won the House in 1994 were “undone” by a group of liberal Republicans who “took control of our party in Congress and … left our borders wide open, … increased spending twice as fast as Bill Clinton [and] increased entitlements faster than at any time since the 1960s.”

McClintock and Ose are running for the seat being vacated by Rep. John Doolittle (R), who is retiring. Retired police administrator and Air Force veteran Charlie Brown, the 4th district Democratic nominee in 2006, is running again.

McClintock has been charging that Ose is a “liberal” Republican who is out of step with the values of conservative 4th district voters. Ose strenuously denies the charge, and has hit McClintock for accepting $25,000 a year in tax-free per-diem despite living in suburban Sacramento, not far from the Capitol.

— David M. Drucker