House Bank Scandal Fails to Halt Hunter Reelection : District 52: Democratic presidential victory has some wondering how effective the ultra-conservative Hunter will be in the new Congress.

Revelations that he had written hundreds of overdrafts on his U.S. House bank account evidently did not hamper Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-Coronado) bid for reelection Tuesday night as he took a commanding lead over his Democratic opponent in the 52nd District.

Hunter, 44, took an early lead in the absentee ballots and never trailed throughout the night. Democratic challenger Janet Gastil had pinned her hopes on the anti-incumbent mood sweeping the country and on an aggressive campaign that focused on Hunter’s 407 overdrafts totaling $129,225.

However, that strategy apparently was not enough for the little-known Gastil. Hunter, aided by a 7% GOP edge in voter registration in the district and a campaign strategy that relied heavily on the role he played in saving the local Navy base from the Pentagon budget ax, easily turned back Gastil’s challenge.

A confident Hunter went before television cameras Tuesday night two hours after the polls closed at 8 p.m. to declare himself the winner.

“The real issue was jobs and working families in the district and being able to save our Navy base,” said Hunter.

He dismissed Gastil’s attacks on his character because of the overdrafts.

“You take some hard shots and do what you think is right,” Hunter said.

However, Tuesday’s Democratic presidential victory prompted some questions about how effective the ultra-conservative Hunter will be in the new Congress and in his dealings with the White House next year.

Hunter said that he hoped to work with both Democratic and Republican conservatives to oppose what he said are expected tax increases by President-elect Bill Clinton.

The campaign in the 52nd District started out as a routine reelection effort by Hunter in his bid for a seventh two-year term in Congress. Most political pundits gave the Democrats little chance of upsetting the Republican incumbent because of Hunter’s high name recognition and a 46% to 39% GOP registration advantage in the district.

Hunter had not faced a serious Democratic challenger since upsetting a nine-term Democratic incumbent in the 1980 Ronald Reagan landslide.

However, the stakes changed earlier this year when House officials reported Hunter’s overdrafts. Although he went on to defeat two Republican challengers in the GOP primary in June, Gastil, who won the Democratic primary, promised to turn Hunter’s bounced checks into a political issue.

Gradually, the campaign took an ugly turn as Election Day neared and the race tightened. Gastil, 55, began running hard-hitting television and radio ads that criticized Hunter for the overdrafts and for voting for a $35,000 congressional pay raise.

In addition, Hunter also came under criticism for his central role in President Bush’s attack on Democratic rival Bill Clinton’s patriotism. Hunter and Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, another San Diego County Republican, were instrumental in persuading Bush to attack Clinton’s participation in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and for taking a trip to Moscow while he was a student.

However, it was Gastil’s television ads showing Hunter’s face inside a bouncing ball, while an announcer accused him of kiting checks, that appeared to be more effective.

An enraged Hunter countered with a lawsuit against Gastil, charging her with libel for allegedly branding him a criminal in the ads. Gastil dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous and said that Hunter was attempting to harass and intimidate her.

Throughout the campaign, Hunter acknowledged that he wrote the overdrafts on the now defunct House bank. However, in an argument that critics found disingenuous, Hunter insisted that none of the checks bounced because the bank provided overdraft protection for House members.

Hunter’s campaign strategy was to portray Gastil, a former La Mesa school board member who also owns an apple-growing business, as “just another liberal tax-and-spend Democrat out of step” with the conservative district.

He countered Gastil’s attacks with a steady steam of television ads that reminded viewers of the role he played in bringing government contracts to local shipyards. He also cited his successful efforts to persuade federal government officials to erect a metal fence at the U.S.-Mexico border.