Republican Paul Chabot says he’ll run against Rep. Pete Aguilar again

Republican military veteran Paul Chabot, who narrowly lost an open Inland Empire congressional district seat to then-Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar last fall, said Tuesday that he would run again for the seat in 2016.

Aguilar won the fall race to succeed Rep. Gary Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga) by three percentage points after narrowly surviving a crowded June primary. Miller retired and did not seek re-election in a district that has been growing increasingly Democratic.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently put Aguilar on a list of its most vulnerable House members.

Still, Aguilar will be seeking re-election in a presidential election year, which typically boosts Democratic turnout significantly.

Chabot noted in a statement announcing his candidacy that he came close to winning despite being heavily outspent by the Aguilar campaign and despite help that Aguilar got from President Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.

Chabot, a combat veteran who served in Iraq, is a reserve sheriff’s deputy in San Bernardino County. He lives in Rancho Cucamonga with his wife, Brenda, and their four children.

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