The Democrats were successful in flipping a number of seats in 2018—including the 49th in California (CA-49). Darrell Issa, a nine-term congressman, decided not to run for reelection. Ultimately, Democrat Mike Levin defeated Republican State Senator Diane Harkey to capture the seat for the Democrats. The Orange County Republican Party has made some strides toward making up for its defeats in the 2010 election cycle, but CA-49, which spans from the southernmost parts of Orange County (Laguna Niguel/San Juan Capistrano/San Clemente) to the northernmost parts of San Diego (Oceanside/Vista/Encinitas/Carlsbad), has become a Democratic stronghold due to changes in the district's boundaries and its population.
Tuesday night, Decision Desk HQ announced that Representative Mike Levin had defeated Republican Bryan Maryott by a score of 52% to 47% after a tight election. Maryott failed in his 2020 bid to unseat Levin once again.
Decision Desk HQ projects Rep. Mike Levin (D) wins re-election to the U.S. House in California’s 49th Congressional District.#DecisionMade: 9:15pm EST
Follow more results here: https://t.co/erllKADtzf pic.twitter.com/BGcdyzvb2O
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 16, 2022
This time, Maryott pushed Levin to a limit. In order to support Levin at a rally in Oceanside, the Democratic National Committee thought it necessary to fly President Joe Biden into San Diego County. On November 8, Levin still had a little edge, but he was steadily growing. Keeping things as they were, there was no way to predict the winner of the race. Following the Saturday, November 12, vote decrease, Levin increased his lead by more than five percentage points. He maintained this lead for a week following the election, starting on November 8.
To maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, both major parties considered this seat to be a must-win. Since Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia (CA-27) and CA-03 candidate Kevin Kiley (R) both won in their respective contests, the seat's significance has decreased now that the party has achieved the majority in the House.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Red State.
