Darrell Issa isn’t the only California Republican looking to return to Congress. | Getty Issa weighs return to the House — through Duncan Hunter

Former Rep. Darrell Issa wants to make a comeback, and is eyeing a path that would put him head-on with embattled Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter.

The California Republican has launched an exploratory committee, according to a website that recently touted his PAC but has since been updated to say that he's pondering a run for the state’s 50th Congressional District given “a tremendous outpouring of encouragement from supporters inside the district, and around the state and across the Nation.”


Multiple queries to Issa representatives were not returned.

President Donald Trump nominated Issa to be the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which helps U.S. businesses expand their exports to emerging economies, but the process has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly a year.

Issa announced his retirement last year and saw his former seat claimed by Democrat Mike Levin, one of seven California districts held by the GOP to flip last cycle. The terrain in Hunter’s San Diego-area district is much friendlier than in Issa’s former stomping ground, with Republicans wielding a sturdy registration advantage.

But there’s a catch: Incumbency imbues Hunter with some staying power as he hangs on even as a January trial for alleged campaign finance violations threatens to torpedo his chances just months before California’s primary.

Even if Hunter steps aside, Issa will face formidable Republican competition from former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who wields broad name recognition and has a knack for fundraising. Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, meanwhile, is taking another shot for the seat after coming within a few points of dislodging Hunter last year.

Issa isn’t the only California Republican looking to return to Congress.

Former Rep. David Valadao formally announced this week that he was running for his former Central Valley seat, which Rep. TJ Cox claimed by the thinnest margin of any California congressional flip last year. House leadership had lined up a fundraiser for Valadao even before he declared.