Airline Pilot Joins GOP Race for Badham’s Seat in Congress

Airline pilot John Hylton, 42, of Newport Beach on Thursday became the seventh Republican candidate to say that he will run for the heavily Republican 40th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach).

In making his announcement, Hylton said one of his concerns, if elected, would be traffic on the freeways and “also in the airways above Orange County, some of the most congested in the nation.”

“When an Orange Countian gets aboard a commercial aircraft, he wants to know that the skies are safe, that aircraft are properly maintained and that crews are adequately experienced and trained,” Hylton said in a statement. “I believe that I am specially qualified to address these and other national and local issues.”

Hylton and his wife, Mary Ann, have three children.

Other candidates in the race are: Irvine City Councilman C. David Baker, 34; Badham’s surprise 1986 opponent, Newport Beach businessman Nathan Rosenberg, 35; Costa Mesa City Councilman Peter Buffa, 39; White House counsel C. Christopher Cox, 35; Tustin City Councilman John Kelly, 35, and Charles S. Devore, 25, a Pentagon liaison to the National Security Council.

Still undecided is Orange County Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, 50. The filing deadline is March 11.

Winning the GOP nomination in the June primary in the 40th District, one of the strongest Republican districts in the nation, is tantamount to winning the general election. The district includes Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, El Toro, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Orange, Santa Ana and Tustin and part of Huntington Beach.