Francine Pocino Busby (born March 3, 1951) is a former member of the school board in Cardiff, California and was the chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party. She has four times been the Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 50th congressional district, in North San Diego County. In 2004, she ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Republican Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Before his term was up, Cunningham resigned due to his conviction on bribery charges, and Busby ran in the June 2006 special election to replace him; she lost to Republican Brian Bilbray, who again defeated her in the 2006 general election that November. She also ran unsuccessfully against Bilbray in 2010. Personal Busby was born in Los Angeles, California, to an Italian American family, and grew up in nearby Arcadia. She graduated with a BA in Humanities from UC Irvine. From 1974–1981, Busby was a travel manager and marketer for the Walt Disney Travel Company. She married her husband David Busby in 1978. They had two children, Maria and Michael, and Busby quit her job to raise them. In 1988 the family moved to Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. Busby is fluent in Italian, and has written a book on Bosconero, the town of her ancestors on her mother's side. She won $15K and cash and prizes over three days on $ale of the Century between December 24, 28, and 29th, 1987 Political She ran two successful school bond campaigns in 1998 and 2000, became president of the Cardiff Education Foundation in 2000, was appointed to fill a vacancy to the Cardiff School Board, and, in 2002, was elected for a full school board term. In January 2013 she was chosen as chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party. She is also the executive director of Run Women Run, an organization that trains, mentors, and supports women candidates for elective office. Electoral history 2004 general election Busby ran against then-Rep. Duke Cunningham in the 2004 U.S. House election, receiving 36% of the vote to Cunningham's 58%. Cunningham later resigned on November 28, 2005, after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. 2006 special congressional election Initial vote The initial vote in the special election was held on April 11, 2006. If a single candidate had won a simple majority, he or she would have served out the rest of Cunningham's term.