Your guide to California’s 49th Congressional District race: Gunderson vs. Levin

In California’s 49th Congressional District, Republican Matt Gunderson is taking on Democratic incumbent Rep. Mike Levin to represent portions of Orange and San Diego counties.

Registered Democrats have a slight advantage in the district, where the most pivotal issues include the environment, housing and immigration.

Democratic incumbent Levin, 45, worked as an environmental attorney in the clean energy field before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018.

His legislative actions in Congress have included supporting zero-emission vehicles, removal of spent nuclear fuel from the closed San Onofre plant and other sites near large populations, and water quality protections.

Levin’s top priorities include fighting climate change, supporting veterans, ending veteran homelessness and protecting democracy, according to his campaign website.

Gunderson, 61, owned three car dealerships in Orange County before he retired.

The Republican ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022. He has served as chairman of the Mission Hospital Foundation board and as a member of the Saddleback College Foundation board.

Gunderson’s House campaign has largely focused on affordability for the middle class.

The largely coastal 49th District stretches from Laguna Niguel in Orange County to Del Mar in San Diego County. It encompasses the San Onofre site and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, so the environment and veterans affairs are major issues for the district.

We asked Levin and Gunderson about three major statewide ballot measures: Proposition 3, which would affirm gay marriage in California; Proposition 32, which would establish an $18 minimum hourly wage; and Proposition 33, which would allow local governments to expand rent control.

On gay marriage, Levin said that he is “unequivocally” supportive and that enshrining the right to same-sex marriage in California’s Constitution would provide an extra layer of protection beyond the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize it nationwide. Levin also supports the minimum wage increase, which he said would “spur consumer spending that will boost our state’s economy.”

But Levin said he’s against Proposition 33.

California

Your guide to Proposition 33: Effort to expand rent control

Proposition 33 would allow local governments to dramatically expand rent control. It is drawing support from tenant groups and opposition from the real estate industry.

Sept. 26, 2024

“While there may be a need to update the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act [limits on rent control], that should be done by the state Legislature with careful consideration to ensure that we do not undercut state housing production efforts,” he said. “Ultimately, building more housing is the best way to make rents affordable.”

Gunderson said he supports gay marriage and Proposition 3 but is against the other two propositions because he believes the market should drive minimum wages and rental prices.

“We have a housing crisis in this country, absolutely, but it isn’t the onus of the property owners to solve that,” he said.

Levin has fought for investments to increase the supply of affordable housing, supported a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, secured federal funding for a homeless shelter and focused on eliminating veterans homelessness, according to his website.

If reelected, Levin said, he will fight to expand a housing construction tax credit to finance nearly 2 million homes over the next decade, and for legislation to make “the largest-ever federal investment” in affordable housing production, public housing and community planning to add nearly 1.5 million more homes.

He supports restricting hedge funds from buying single-family housing stock.

“The primary purpose of our limited housing supply should not be for Wall Street to make a profit,” he said.

Gunderson said his biggest federal obligation as a congressman would be to homeless veterans. His next obligation, he said, would be to put pressure on Sacramento and state entities to come up with and be accountable for policies that are productive and efficient.

Gunderson also supports policies that would allow mandated treatment for addiction or mental illness, sometimes against a person’s will. “It’s not compassionate to let people live in squalor just because they want to,” he said.

On housing, Gunderson said addressing its affordability begins with addressing the cost of development. He said he would support policies that reduce regulatory taxes and permitting fees. One idea would be to offer tax breaks or subsidies for the conversion of empty commercial buildings into housing, he said.

“I’m a political outsider; I didn’t come up through the ranks of local politics,” he said. “Am I a policy wonk? No, but I do approach this from a very business-minded, fiscally conservative perspective.”

Levin calls for hiring more Border Patrol agents, investing in technology to stop fentanyl trafficking, and passing legislation to broadly address the immigration system. He is a co-sponsor of the DIGNITY Act, which would fund border personnel, codify protections for migrant children and provide a pathway to permanent residency for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.

“Over the last few decades, it has become clear that our current border and immigration policies are too outdated to deal with new migration challenges,” he said. “I regularly visit the southern border to hear directly from our law enforcement officers about their needs, and those visits have reinforced this fact.”

Gunderson previously told The Times that the border was the No. 1 issue affecting his district. He said the Biden administration had dismantled former President Trump’s border policies just to “inch their way back” as the election neared. He believes Trump’s policies for securing the border were the right way to go.

Describing himself as an unconventional Republican, he said he stands out from other conservatives because he believes in limited legalized abortion.

“If we take that issue off the table, we can have a serious conversation about coastal bluff preservation, securing the border, addressing inflation and facing the challenges in our education system,” Gunderson said. “We don’t need to get wrapped up in issues that have already been decided in California.”