Busby got the most votes, 43.75 percent, but fell short of the majority necessary to avoid a runoff race. As no candidate won a simple majority, the top vote-getters in each party faced each other in a runoff on June 6, 2006. Because the 50th is considered to be a heavily Republican district, it would have been considered major news if Busby won. "This is a biggie," said Carl Luna, a political science professor at San Diego Mesa College. "Everyone is going to be reading the tea leaves as a predictor of November." For that reason, the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $5 million on this race. On June 2, five days before the special congressional election, Busby was participating in a panel discussion with four other presenters who were addressing a largely Latino audience. She had been invited to explain her position in support of comprehensive immigration reform. The discussion was conducted in Spanish with some translation. During a discussion presented by a fellow panelist about ways to get involved in political action, a man from the back of the room addressed a question to Busby in Spanish. Busby said, "I didn't hear the entire question, but I understood that he wanted to help and said something about papers. I misspoke by saying he didn't need papers to vote. I meant that he didn't need papers to volunteer. This was not a discussion about my campaign." Her comments were recorded by a member of the Minutemen. "You can all help--you don't need papers to vote, and you don't need to be a registered voter to help." She made this comment in response to a question by a man who asked in Spanish, "I want to help, but I don't have papers." The recording was circulated over the Internet and on radio. Runoff results In the June 6 runoff, Busby faced the leading vote getter from the two other parties participating: Republican Brian Bilbray and Libertarian Paul King, as well as independent candidate William Griffith. Busby lost to Bilbray 49.3% to 45.5%. Bilbray thereby won the right to finish Cunningham's term, through January 2007. 2006 general election June 6, 2006, was also the date of the primary for the November general election. Busby and Bilbray each captured their party's nomination (as did Libertarian Paul King and Peace and Freedom candidate Miriam E. Clark). Bilbray, with the advantage of incumbency, took