Mike Levin (D-CA 49) won a fourth term this month, but it was a hard-fought victory in his historically purple district, which spans Orange and San Diego counties. He won handily in the San Diego portion of the constituency.
While the Democrat held on to his seat, his party is in the minority in D.C., as Republicans will control the House, Senate and Oval Office come the new year. Levin said he is prepared to reach across the aisle, noting his congressional career began under the first Trump administration.
“I do think there are areas of common ground, and I'll continue to be focused on them. One that comes to mind is lowering costs. I think everybody that was campaigning, whether Republican, Democratic, we were all committed to finding common sense ways to lower costs for the American consumer,” Levin said.
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He acknowledges it is "not going to be as easy, obviously to get things across the finish line." He believes bipartisan cooperation will be possible to tackle inflation and environmental concerns, like nuclear waste.
“We may have some different ideas. I'm worried about things like tariffs, the impact that they'll have on prices, but we know that we have to rein in inflation. And we've got to work together in a bipartisan way to do it,” Levin said.
Inevitably, however, there will be conflict. Levin campaigned heavily on protecting reproductive freedom.
“I know that my colleagues across the aisle, many of them would advocate for a national abortion ban. And we've got to do everything we can to try to stop them. But it's going to be very difficult with the trifecta that they have,” said Levin. “We have to make sure that we work very, very hard both outside the Capitol and as lawmakers to stand with reproductive rights.”
NBC 7's full interview with Levin will air on Sunday after "Meet the Press."
