Carl DeMaio

Carl David DeMaio (born September 14, 1974) is an American politician from San Diego, California. DeMaio hosts a radio show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO. He also founded and served as Chairman of Reform California, a conservative political action committee. A member of the Republican Party, DeMaio served a single term as a member of the San Diego City Council, representing District 5 from 2008 to 2012. DeMaio was a candidate for Mayor of San Diego in the 2012 election, but narrowly lost to former congressman Bob Filner. He ran for California's 52nd congressional district in the 2014 election, but lost to incumbent Scott Peters. On August 5, 2019, DeMaio announced he would run for Congress in 2020 to represent the 50th district, running against incumbent Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, a fellow Republican. Hunter announced his resignation from Congress on December 6, 2019, which became effective January 13, 2020. In the primary election on March 3, 2020, DeMaio failed to qualify for the November runoff. Early life and education DeMaio was born in 1974 in Dubuque, Iowa to a pair of teachers, Carl Joseph DeMaio and Diane M. DeMaio (née Elgin). He and his family moved to Orange County, California in the late 1970s. He attended St. Catherine's Military Academy, a Catholic school in Anaheim, through eighth grade. In 1989, he got a scholarship to Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit boarding school in Maryland. His mother died of breast cancer in 1990 when he was 15 years old; his abusive father abandoned the family two weeks prior to her death. DeMaio became separated from his brother and sister and began attending Georgetown Prep. He graduated in 1993, then attended Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he received a degree in international politics and business in 1996.