Gilchrist Forces Runoff

In balloting Tuesday for the 48th Congressional District in Orange County, anti-illegal immigration activist Jim Gilchrist has garnered enough votes to force a runoff between presumed winner Republican State Senator John Campbell, Democrat Steve Young and Gilchrist himself. The runoff will be December 6th. Gilchrist is running as an independent.

With 20% of registered voters showing up to the polls, 46% went for Campbell, 14.4% for Gilchrist and 8.9% for Young in this heavily conservative district. Another Republican candidate Marilyn Brewer earned 16.7% of the vote but was eliminated by Campbell's strong showing. Had one candidate received a majority of votes, no runoff would be necessary.

Gilchrist is the founder of the controversial Minuteman Project, which organized volunteers at the border to put a damper on illegal immigration.

The 48th District seat became available when President Bush appointed the previous holder, Christopher Cox, to head up the Securities and Exchange Commission.