California’s 49th District House Election

• Rep. Mike Levin is running against Republican Brian Maryott in California’s 49th Congressional District. Levin defeated Maryott in 2020. 
• The 49th District is located in northern San Diego County and includes portions of Orange County. 
• Levin flipped the district to Democratic control in 2018. 

Democratic Rep. Mike Levin faces off against Republican Brian Maryott in a rematch to represent California’s 49th Congressional District.

California’s 49th Congressional District candidates

Levin is serving his second term in the House and sits on the Committee of Veterans Affairs, where he is vice chairman. Prior to being elected to Congress in 2018, he worked as an environmental attorney and served on the board of San Diego’s Center for Sustainable Energy. Levin is also the co-founder of Sustain OC, an organization that helps accelerate the transition toward more sustainable power generation and transportation alternatives. 

As a member of Congress, Levin has prioritized climate action and sustainable energy as well as support for veterans. 

Levin was elected to the House in 2018, flipping the seat held by then-retiring 10-term Republican Rep. Darrell Issa to Democratic control. He defeated former Republican state Rep. Diane Harkey, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Levin was reelected in 2020 after defeating Maryott, bringing in over half the vote. 

Maryott, Levin’s challenger, is a certified financial planner and businessman. Maryott, who started out as a Democrat, worked for Massachusetts state Rep. Paul Caron and later served on the San Juan Capistrano City Council. 

This is his third time running for the 49th Congressional District seat. In 2018, Maryott placed eighth in a crowded, nonpartisan primary, which put him out of the general election. In 2020, he unsuccessfully challenged Levin. 

Maryott came in second to Levin in the 2022 nonpartisan primary, bringing in 19% of the vote to Levin’s 49%, which was good enough to advance to the general election. 

Voting history for California’s 49th Congressional District

California’s 49th Congressional District is located in northern San Diego County and includes the cities of Oceanside and Encinitas. The district also includes portions of Orange County. 

President Joe Biden had a 13 percentage point margin of victory over President Donald Trump under the district’s previous boundaries in 2020 before it was redrawn to shift northwest in redistricting following the 2020 Census, making it slightly less Democratic-leaning. The shift, however, was minimal and the district stayed relatively the same. 

The money race

According to OpenSecrets, Levin has raised almost $4.7 million, spent almost $5.2 million, and has $1 million on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Maryott, has raised more than $4.5 million, spent $4.1 million, and has $430,000 cash on hand, as of October 19.

As of late October, several dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups have together spent more than $11.7 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race’s primary phase. Such spending is on the high end for outside spending in US House races. Republican hybrid PAC Congressional Leadership Fund leads all spenders, with Democratic hybrid PAC House Majority PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee so far placing second and third.

What experts say

The race between Levin and Maryott is rated as “lean Democratic” by Inside Elections, “lean Democratic” by The Cook Political Report, and “leans Democratic” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.