Desmond kicks off congressional run

The longtime North County politician is challenging incumbent Mike Levin in the 2026 election

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond kicked off his congressional campaign on Thursday in Solana Beach. The Republican is taking on Democrat incumbent Mike Levin in the 49th District in 2026. Steve Puterski photo

SOLANA BEACH — Republicans believe they have the right candidate in the right cycle to unseat Rep. Mike Levin.

On Thursday, Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond officially kicked off his campaign in Solana Beach for the 2026 election to challenge Levin, a Democrat, for California’s 49^th congressional district. Desmond, along with Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-48) and others spoke about how Desmond is the right candidate to flip the district.

Issa, along with Brian Maryott, who lost to Levin in 2020 and 2022, said Desmond’s North County roots give him an advantage over previous Republican challengers, who all hailed from Orange County. Desmond, a former Delta pilot and Navy veteran, said the majority of voters reside in North County and he needs to peel off about 5% to 6% to win.

He said his record of winning five North County cities as the former mayor of San Marcos and supervisor (Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido and Vista), being a veteran and a consistent media presence regarding his current duties has given him name recognition with voters.

“I’m used to being boots on the ground in the neighborhoods and fixing local issues,” Desmond added. “I want to bring federal dollars to those local issues as well.”

Desmond said his platform centers on the 80/20 issues, such as deporting illegal criminals, a strong border policy, reducing wasteful and fraudulent government spending, protecting women and girls’ sports from biological male participation, voter ID, and school choice. He said most of the country, even in San Diego, supports those issues, which is why Desmond is running.

Desmond also said his local experience is an advantage, as he wants to bring money to the district to tackle issues such as sand and erosion in Orange and North counties, as well as roads and housing.