One survived an ambush in Iraq, another visited a prisoner-of-war camp there, and a third oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and Green Berets in the war.

Three of the seven candidates vying to replace Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, have combat experience in Iraq.

But having three Iraq combat veterans as candidates makes the East County district stand out.

“It’s probably more than we have anywhere else,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee in Washington, D.C.

Republican Duncan D. Hunter, 31, a captain in the Marine Corps Reserve, was ambushed about five hours after entering Iraq and later fought in the first battle of Fallujah. He is the son of the incumbent.

Democrat Mike Lumpkin, 43, a retired Navy SEAL commander, oversaw the day-to-day actions of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq.

Republican Rick L. Powell, 60, a retired Army colonel and U.S. Customs Service supervisory special agent, directed more than 1,000 Army reservists, the movement of equipment, and visited a prisoner-of-war camp in Iraq.

Hunter and Lumpkin came under fire and lost friends in the conflict, they said. Powell, who also is a Vietnam veteran, said nearly two dozen of the Army reservists serving under him in Iraq were wounded.

From his experiences in both wars, Powell said he understands what it’s like to come under fire and lose friends.

Hunter and Powell favor keeping U.S. forces in in Iraq; Lumpkin would withdraw half of the troops.

Among the other candidates, Republican Bob Watkins, 65, a businessman and president of the San Diego County Board of Education, and Republican Brian Jones, 39, a Santee councilman and real estate adviser, support staying in Iraq until the country can defend itself and stability is achieved.

Watkins said he tried to join flight programs with the Navy and the Marines during the 1960s but was rejected because of poor eyesight. Jones said he considered entering the Air Force, as his father and grandfather had done, but decided to go to college instead.

Libertarian Michael Benoit, 57, a businessman, would support legislation to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. Benoit said he was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War and worked to get discharged.

Democrat Vickie Butcher, 66, a nonprofit executive, said her understanding of the military is deep because she is the wife of a former Navy physician who made seven trips to Vietnam. She wants to withdraw troops from Iraq.

The vast 52nd District covers much of East County and northeastern San Diego County. Forty-five percent of voters in the district are registered Republicans; 31 percent are Democrats.

After more than a quarter of a century in Congress, the senior Hunter decided not to run for re-election and instead launched a presidential bid. His decision created an open congressional seat. The primary is June 3.

Until the recent Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Hunter was chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, helping give the 52nd a reputation as a “big military district,” said Peter Feaver, a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University.

Given that background, it isn’t surprising that so many of the candidates have combat experience, said Gary Jacobson, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego.

The timing also is good for veterans: Some voters are more likely to see military experience as a positive during times of war, Jacobson said. “Presumably, some of these guys looked and said, ‘If Duncan Hunter’s son is going to run on this basis, why can’t I?’ ” Jacobson said.

Nationally, the Iraq Veterans for Congress and VoteVets.org have counted at least 26 Iraq war veterans running for the House this year. At least five more candidates with Iraq war experience show up in newspaper accounts across the country.

The Iraq Veterans for Congress is a coalition of Republican vets making congressional bids. They support keeping troops in Iraq until the country is “a thriving democracy that can sustain itself militarily and financially” and be an ally in the Middle East, said spokesman Chris Covucci. Candidate Hunter is a member.

VoteVets.org has a political action committee that supports candidates who have served in the military and who oppose President Bush’s handling of the war. They support shifting the focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. The group has endorsed Lumpkin.

Lumpkin, who has a master’s degree in national security and once worked as a congressional liaison for the U.S. Special Operations Command in Washington, D.C., said his education and experience have taught him to look at Iraq and the region as a whole. Lumpkin said he would withdraw 50 percent of U.S. troops and reassign the rest to protect Iraq’s borders.

Powell, who saw combat in Vietnam at age 18, said the mass graves and other atrocities in Iraq reinforced for him the need for the United States to get involved there. He would give the Iraqis three to five more years to make significant progress toward governing and defending themselves before considering withdrawal.

“We just can’t say we’re going to be there forever,” Powell said. “What we have to say is we are not going to be permanent occupiers. We want to stabilize the government, then we’ll leave.”

Candidate Hunter shrugs off talk of a timeline. He said he joined the Marines the day after Sept. 11, 2001, and went on to serve two tours in Iraq. He was recalled to active duty last year to serve a third tour, in Afghanistan, then retired from active duty.

Hunter said the United States has made mistakes since the invasion in 2003, but he advocates keeping American troops in the country until the Iraqi military is strong enough to defend its own government.

“It’s a very tough environment over there, but we’re finally making headway, and we’re finally being successful,” Hunter said.

Watkins said his business experience has taught him the importance of hiring and then relying on experts, something he would do in Congress. He rejects calls for a withdrawal timeline, saying the United States must continue working to turn Iraq into a society that can not only sustain itself but stabilize the region.

“It’s not just about winning a war,” Watkins said.
Jones also said he would rely on the experts while navigating military policy decisions, something he learned in his six years on the Santee City Council.

“I don’t believe it’s Congress’ job to be a military expert,” Jones said. “The members’ job is to set the policy that they want the military to accomplish, and then give them every resource available to accomplish that policy.”

Benoit said it might be nice for a certain percentage of candidates to have military experience, but “you don’t want Congress loaded with any one occupation, if you will.”

About 23 percent of members in the House have served in the military, the lowest figure since the end of World War II in 1945, according to the Military Officers Association of America. The highest percentage in the past 63 years was in 1977: 80 percent.

The Iraq war veterans competing to represent the 52nd Congressional District said those who have seen war are more careful about starting one.

If more veterans were in Congress, “our troops would not have been required to rush to war without proper body armor,” Lumpkin said.
He said the country needs more people in Congress who understand what questions to ask.

“As complex as the situation in Iraq is right now, mere military experience isn’t even enough,” Lumpkin said. “Our Congress needs military experts to get it resolved.”