State Sen. Ted Lieu - 28th District - is running for Henry Waxman’s Congressional seat. In a phone interview, he said he is running because he “love[s] America, but [he] believe[s] our nation can do better,” a decision he reached “after [he] talked to [his] wife.”

He says that he will be able to take his extensive experience of “making hard decisions” from California - avoiding a shutdown, getting through the budget deficit to get to a budget surplus and working across the aisle - to Congress. He said he will continue “to put residents ahead of politics.”

Lieu said he has experience working on issues such as climate change, healthcare and civil rights, among others, and he “will bring that leadership to Congress and also to be able to work across the aisle to help get things done.”

Lieu has fought vigorously to ensure utility companies do not have multiple blackouts throughout the year, targeting Southern California Edison in particular. While he was in the Assembly, Lieu “proposed legislation that sought to penalize utility companies that had three or more blackouts a year in the same area.” The candidate said he, “would absolutely continue to fight for [his] constituents.”

“I would continue [Waxman’s] remarkable work on climate change. I believe climate change is [the] single biggest threat facing not just California, but our nation and we need [to] do more to mitigate the effects of climate change,” said Lieu regarding what he would do, if he wins the race and is appointed to the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Lieu believes he could beat other well-known Democrats because he says he is “the only one running that has a base…represent[ing] over 86 percent of the voters,” in his State Senate district. The state senator says that he would be concerned, however, if 3rd District Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky was to run. Lieu called him a “remarkable individual.” He does not “believe” the supervisor will run, though, based off of what Yaroslavsky has said previously.

The candidate, however, has “not thought that far ahead yet” when it comes to thinking about who he wants to run for his Senate seat.

Reach Senior Reporter Max Schwartz here; follow him on Twitter here.