Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, is looking for a fifth two-year term. He is the only Democrat in the June primary again this year in the 49th Congressional District, which includes much of northern San Diego County and southern Orange County.

Two Republicans, Armen Kurdian and Star Parker, will face off in the primary for the right to challenge Levin in the November general election. Levin faced four unsuccessful Republicans in the 2024 primary.

Kurdian, a retired Navy captain, is a Vista resident who ran for the Vista City Council in 2022, losing by 30 votes to Dan O’Donnell for the council’s 4th District seat.

Kurdian, if elected, plans to “lower the cost of living, cut wasteful federal spending, oppose tax increases, and support policies that help small businesses and create good-paying jobs,” according to his campaign website.

He also wants to “empower parents with school choice” and “hold schools accountable for results,” the website states, and he would “cut the regulations that push employers out of California.”

Parker, a San Clemente resident, writes a weekly column on national politics for Creators News Syndicate that is carried by national news outlets, including Fox News, NewsMax, Epoch Times, and Real Clear Politics.

“The weight of federal overreach is crushing the dreams of our youth and far too many in our middle class, so after working 35 years in (Washington) D.C. on public policy reforms, I’m compelled to now go inside the apparatus to work specifically on Social Security, health care and housing reforms,” Parker, 69, said in an email.

She’s written four books on political subjects. One of them, “Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It,” is promoted on her website with a favorable quote from the late radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.

In 2020, President Donald Trump appointed Parker to serve a two-year term on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission Committee for California, according to her campaign website.

“She is currently working closely with key national thought leaders specializing in Social Security reform,” her website states.

Levin, 47, is far outpacing his Republican challengers in fundraising, according to the Federal Election Commission’s online records.

Levin reported raising a total of $2.8 million for the campaign from Jan. 1, 2025, through March 31 of this year, in the most recent report available from the commission. Parker reported $360,000 and Kurdian reported $1,700 during the same time period.

In the March 2024 primary, Levin was the only Democratic candidate in the 49th District and received 51% of the vote districtwide. The leading Republican in the primary, Matt Gunderson, received 25.7%, followed by Margarita Wilkinson with 11%, Kate Monroe with 10% and Sheryl Adams with 2.4%.

Levin defeated Gunderson by 4.4 percentage points in the November 2024 general election.

Levin was first elected to Congress in 2018, when he won the seat vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. Issa later was elected to represent the 50th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023.

Before being elected to Congress, Levin worked as an environmental attorney and was on the board of the national nonprofit Center for Sustainable Energy.

Since 2019, he has helped secure more than $1 billion in federal funding for the 49th District, supporting things such as shoreline protection, transportation infrastructure, education, a diversified water supply, and quality-of-life improvements for military service members.

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