Wed Nov 11, 7:20 PM ET

FILE - This April 9, 2003 file photo shows Staff Sgt. Nick Popaditch of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, smoking a cigar while standing on top of his tank, in downtown Baghdad in front of a statue of Saddam Hussein just before his unit helped tear it down. Popaditch, 42, who was blinded in one eye by a rocket-propelled grenade to the head in Fallujah announced Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009, he is running for Congress in California's most southern district. He is seeking the Republican nomination to unseat Democrat Bob Filner. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.