The race for the 49th Congressional District seat remained tight late Wednesday, with the candidates 2 percentage points apart in a race with national implications.
Incumbent Democrat Mike Levin was up about 5,200 votes over Republican Matt Gunderson, with more than 270,000 ballots counted from voters in a district that straddles San Diego and Orange counties.
The nail-biter comes as control of the House of Representatives remains undecided. Democrats are hoping to flip the House blue as Republicans take the Senate and the presidency.
On election night, the initial tally had Levin with a strong lead, but Gunderson made fast gains as more results were released the following day. Gunderson issued a statement Wednesday that he was “encouraged by the initial election results” and will continue to watch as the returns are reported out.
“Mike Levin was supposed to be a shoo-in for re-election, but instead required Nancy Pelosi’s assistance with millions of dollars in advertising to try and save him,” Gunderson said. “Despite the Democrats’ millions in negative advertising, our message of fiscal responsibility, secure borders, and common sense has resonated with the voters of San Diego and Orange Counties.”
Talking to his supporters Tuesday night, Levin said he was confident he would prevail and hopeful that the Democrats would retake the House. He also noted the nation is “going through a period of deep division.”
“How we collectively decide to move forward will shine a light on how we want to be viewed as Americans, and I hope that we’ll proceed with dignity, respect and civility,” he said.
Going into the race, the Cook Political Report projected the 49th District as “lean” Democratic, downgrading Levin’s advantage from Cook’s earlier forecast that the district was “likely” Democratic. In the final days of the election, polling numbers from SurveyUSA for the Union-Tribune and Channel 10 projected Levin with a 13-point lead.
San Diego’s North County voters backed Levin, a three-term congressman, by a wide margin, and Orange County voters backed Gunderson, who owned car dealerships, by roughly the same wide margin. Both candidates live in south Orange County.
Unofficial election results indicate the remaining four members of San Diego’s delegation all defeated their challengers. Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat representing the 50th District, which stretches inland from Coronado and Mission Bay to north of San Marcos and out to San Pasqual, issued a statement thanking his supporters — he’s up by 25 percentage points over his Republican challenger. He added that other Election Day results were “disappointing” and said “Californians and Democrats have a hard time understanding how the presidential race could turn out this way.
“Nationally, it’s evident that Democrats have not done a good job of understanding the challenges that many of our fellow citizens face,” Peters said. “From now forward, we need to face the fact honestly and directly that many don’t think our party stands up for them. We must do a better job of recognizing and responding to how they’re struggling.”
San Diego and Orange County registrars are each slated to release their next updated election results late Thursday.
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