Republican Carl DeMaio won the endorsement Wednesday of the nation’s largest small business group in his race to unseat Rep. Scott Peters in the 52nd Congressional District.
The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents more than 350,000 businesses, said DeMaio is “committed to keeping taxes low and reducing government red tape.”
The endorsement comes a week after Peters, a Democrat, received the unexpected endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organization.
DeMaio said the NFIB’s endorsement reflects his record of fighting “for the little guy” on important business and job creation issues.
“Job creation is my top priority and the best way to create jobs is to support our small businesses by cutting the costly red tape that stifles their growth,” DeMaio said. “The broken system in Washington only benefits the privileged and it has let individual working families and small businesses down time and time again. I’m running for Congress to reform that broken system.”
Lisa Goeas, NFIB vice president for political and grassroots, said in endorsing DeMaio that “he will support pro-growth policies that give small business owners the certainty they need to grow their businesses and create jobs.”
A spokesman for the Peters campaign said DeMaio is “reeling from being rejected by the US Chamber, and Tea Party extremists are coming to his rescue,” referring to a $500,000 advertising campaign funded by a conservative super PAC.
The 52nd District covers much of central San Diego County including Poway, Coronado and large portions of the City of San Diego.
