Many Vulnerable Democratic Candidates See Biden as Risky. Not This Lawmaker

Akayla Gardner
·4 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden’s low approval ratings have most Democrats in competitive races running away from the president. Not Representative Mike Levin.

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Levin, whose San Diego-area district is rated “toss up” by the Cook Political Report, welcomed Biden to a pair of events late last week -- one of the few personal appearances Biden has made for any vulnerable House Democrat.

“He was a terrific messenger for all the accomplishments of these past two years,” Levin told Bloomberg News in an interview Sunday. “The pros so overwhelmingly outweighed the cons, in terms of getting out to vote, turning out Democrats that historically may or may not vote in the midterm but vote in a presidential election.”

Midterm elections generally become referendums on incumbent presidents, and the results are historically unkind to the party in power. The last president to see his party make House gains in a midterm was George W. Bush, the year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Biden’s approval rating was 40% in October’s Gallup poll, eroded by persistently high inflation and worries about the economy. That’s made him a liability to many Democrats in close races.

But Levin downplayed the risk and called it “a pretty easy decision” to campaign with the president. Biden won Levin’s district by 13 points in 2020 but after redistricting, it is slightly less favorable to Democrats.

Unpopular President

The president has been noticeably absent in the hottest battlegrounds of the midterms -- states such as Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, all of which have competitive Senate races. Sometimes when he’s visited states with tight races, like Ohio, Democratic candidates have avoided appearing with him.

That sentiment has largely kept his in-person campaigning to Democratic strongholds such as New York, Illinois and Maryland, where he’ll close out the race Monday with a rally on behalf of Wes Moore, the Democratic nominee for governor.

Biden understands the dynamics of individual races and has spoken to candidates to ask how he can best help their campaigns, whether by appearing in person or sending surrogates, according to a Biden adviser. The person asked not to be identified discussing the White House’s midterm strategy.

Earlier: Unpopular Biden Shuns Obama-Trump Midterm Travel Strategy

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

In the final stretch of the campaign, Biden’s appeared in public with Representatives Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten in Illinois, Teresa Leger Fernandez in New Mexico, and Jamaal Bowman in New York. Casten and Fernandez’s seats are rated “leans Democrat” by Cook; Underwood and Bowman are considered safe.

An NBC News poll Sunday showed Democrats closing the gap with Republicans in voter enthusiasm in the final days before the midterms.

California Rematch

Levin is running against Brian Maryott, a former mayor of San Juan Capistrano, California, whom he beat by 6 points in 2020. An October SurveyUSA poll showed Levin leading 49% to 43%.

The California congressman said he is “cautiously optimistic” about his re-election chances and said Biden asked about “all the details” involving the race.

Biden stumped with Levin for two days, headlining a rally at a community college and a fundraiser on Thursday, followed by an event at telecom company Viasat Inc. on Friday to tout the $52 billion semiconductor subsidy bill.

Biden hit at key themes: the need to protect democratic institutions and access to abortion rights, as well as his efforts to curb inflation. But at times, he also distracted from his message with ad-libbed remarks.

Read more: Biden’s Campaign Trail Asides Distract From Pre-Midterm Message

At the Thursday rally, Biden said “we’re going to free Iran,” a remark that drew cheers from the crowd in southern California, where many Iranian-American voters reside, but forced the White House to clarify Biden was not calling for regime change. On Friday, Biden vowed to close coal-fired power plants, sparking a public spat with Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

Nonetheless, Levin said he was “proud to stand with the president.”

“It was important to remind people of the national significance of our race,” Levin said. “People’s decision to vote on Tuesday really could have an impact nationally.”

--With assistance from Jordan Fabian.

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