While Democrats are eyeing multiple seats in Southern California as pickup options in their quest to regain control of the House, Republicans have locked in on California’s 49th District along the coast.

Just north of San Diego, the 49th District is rated “leans Democratic” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. It’s currently represented by Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., who is currently running for reelection.

Levin told Spectrum News that while inflation continues to be an issue he is focused on — “[Democrats are] actually working to address all those high costs, not just talk about them, but actually have plans to address them,” he said in an interview — he is also focused on issues such as sand replenishment, veterans affairs and the rail corridor as some of his major focuses both now and if elected to a fourth term.

“We have the second busiest rail corridor anywhere in the United States, connecting San Diego and LA, making sure we're doing everything to invest in that rail corridor so that we can move goods and people, and actually have a long-term strategy to do so, not just put very expensive band aids on the rail corridor every year when bluffs collapse or beaches erode,” pointed out Levin, who said his office has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to get over a million cubic yards of sand to beaches in San Diego and Orange County.

“I think about getting sand on our beaches — for the good of our region, our coastal tourist economy, and all the businesses that rely on sand on the beach — hard to have a beach town when you don't have a sandy beach.”

Republicans are running small businessman Matt Gunderson against Levin in their attempt to unseat the three-term incumbent. While Gunderson is a newcomer himself to national politics, his family is not: his brother, Steve, represented Wisconsin in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1997.

“It's not in my DNA to sit on the sidelines. And I didn't want to wake up on Nov. 6 and see us lose control of the House by one or two seats and say, 'Maybe I should have done that.' And, so here we are,” said Gunderson, who ran in 2022 unsuccessfully for a seat in the California senate. “It's never been about getting Matt Gunderson elected to something. This is about being useful and giving back to your community.”

Gunderson argues that Levin is more left-leaning than his district.

“This is a very diverse district with only a 2% Democratic registration advantage and a solid 30% plus block of no party preference,” Gunderson said. “We're just going to go to the voters, explain who Mike Levin is, and explain to them the common sense solutions, and contrast what I would bring to the table philosophically versus what he's been doing for six years.”

A Republican who favors abortion rights and says he identifies more with former United Nations Ambassador and presidential candidate Nikki Haley on the issue than former President Donald Trump, Gunderson says Levin is “extreme” on reproductive rights.

“I believe abortion should be safe, legal and rare, and here in California, that decision has been made. The right to abortion is codified in our constitution,” Gunderson said. “I've always opposed late-term abortion. I support parental notification, and I believe he's an abortion on demand supporter, and I think that's an excessive, extreme position that most constituents can't accept.”

Late-term abortions are incredibly rare — with statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that more than 80% of abortions occur at or before nine weeks of pregnancy, with just 6% occurring between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Levin has previously said he supports codifying Roe v. Wade, and the framework of limitations it included. Levin’s campaign pointed out that while Gunderson claims to be “pro-choice,” he is still supporting Trump, who has bragged about his role in overturning Roe through his three conservative appointments to the Supreme Court.

While abortion has not become the headline issue in this race as it has in other Orange County races, the border, Gunderson says, is top of mind for voters.

“We're just this district [that] starts just 20 miles north of the border. So it's being impacted dramatically. There's drug trafficking, there's human trafficking, it's creating a national security risk, and these migrants are coming across the border and coming into our communities and demanding resources that should be used for our legal citizens,” said Gunderson.

“We have to secure the border, and then we can start talking about comprehensive immigration reform.”

Levin, who was supportive of the bipartisan border security measure that was dead on arrival after Trump interfered in the legislation, has previously told Spectrum News that Congressional action was necessary on the issue.

“What we desperately need is bipartisan, commonsense, comprehensive reform that includes not only enforcement measures but also a better path to citizenship for those who are contributing positively to our economy and our society,” Levin said at the time. “Far too many politicians are playing politics with the issue of border security. It is a national security issue and must be treated as such.”

Levin stood beside President Joe Biden earlier this year when Biden signed an executive order that said migrants who cross the border illegally will be barred from seeking asylum when the number of illegal entries averages 2,500 a day. The move was criticized by Biden’s own party, but Levin argued “The real world impact of this is not as draconian as some on the left may fear, and it's not as draconian as some on the right may want.”

Just a few weeks later, Levin called on Biden to step aside as the party’s nominee following the president’s poor debate performance against Trump. He said the decision to call for Biden to pass the torch came directly from his constituents.

“In the lead up to my decision to speak with the president candidly about the need for a new leader at the top of the ticket, that came after over 1,000 constituents had reached out to me personally, whether by phone, email, text, or some combination thereof,” explained Levin, saying those he spoke to were grateful to Biden, but were concerned about a potential second Trump presidency.

“I tried to deliver that message to the president professionally and respectfully, and I had what I thought was an off the record, members only zoom conversation that turned out not to be so confidential, as the press got a hold of the transcript and so forth very quickly.”

Levin said he has seen new energy for even his own campaign as a result of fellow Californian Kamala Harris becoming the party’s nominee, but that he knows there are plenty of constituents who will not vote for him or for Harris.

“I can't just be representative for people who vote for me or people who vote against me. I have to be representative for those that don't vote at all, and that means I have to do a lot of listening,” he said. “My wife doesn't agree with my policies all the time, but I do the best I can to try to listen.”

It’s a similar approach Gunderson says he will take if elected.

“I tell people all the time that you're not going to agree with me 100% of the time, but you're never going to have to wonder where I stand on an issue or how I got there,” he explained. “I think it's that kind of transparency and candor that our constituents want in government today, and I think it's what we need.”

Gunderson says he would describe himself as “a conservative on fiscal issues and a social moderate,” but added he would rather be known as “genuine and productive versus a specific label.”

“I'm not coming here to be a celebrity or build my Twitter following. I am coming here to be a consequential, productive part of the process and solving some problems,” Gunderson said.

As the clock ticks down toward Nov. 5, the most important thing Levin says he’s pushing is civic engagement.

“I just encourage everybody who is watching this: Please vote, and make sure that you get all your friends and neighbors and family members to vote as well," Levin said. "We are the ones that ultimately determine who's elected to different offices and what kind of country we want to see moving forward.”