Candidates For California's 33rd Congressional District Say Race Isn't Over Yet
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California’s 33rd District House race may likely be won on party lines, but both Democratic candidate Ted Lieu and his Republican competitor Elan Carr continue to stress bipartisanship.
Lieu and Carr are fighting to replace incumbent Democrat Henry Waxman, who is retiring after 40 years as a House representative. The race for Waxman’s seat drew 17 contenders, but Lieu and Carr came out on top in the highly contested June primary.
Democratic candidate Ted Lieu currently serves as a state senator. (Paresh Dave / Neon Tommy)
Currently a member of the State Senate, Lieu was previously a State Assemblyman for the 53rd District and has also served 3 years on the Torrance City Council. Lieu immigrated to America from Taiwan with his family when he was 3 years old. After he graduated from Stanford University with degrees in Computer Science and Political Science and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, Lieu joined the U.S. Air Force.
Major Issues
- Make college affordable
- Increase funding for public education
- Strengthen the Affordable Care Act
- Protect Social Security and Medicare
- Raise the minimum wage
- Reduce climate change
Republican candidate Elan Carr currently works as a felony prosecutor in L.A. County. (Elan Carr For Congress / Facebook)
Carr has worked as a felony prosecutor within the L.A. County District Attorney's Office for the past seven years. While he is not an immigrant like Lieu, his parents are. His mom and dad fled to Israel from Iraq and Bulgaria, and both eventually came to America. Carr served in the U.S. Army during the beginning of the Iraq War.
Major Issues
- Improve public safety
- Simplify tax system
- Encourage job growth
- Balance universal healthcare coverage with a reimbursement system
- Immigration reform
- Reduce climate change
Achieving "the American dream" is something both candidates have emphasized in their campaigns.
As a Republican, Carr is the underdog in a district where voter registration for Republicans trails 15 percent behind Democrats. He is pro-environment and supports strong public education and climate change, but his centrism may not be enough to erase Lieu’s current lead.
Both candidates have gotten high profile endorsements. President Barack Obama visited Lieu’s campaign office last week, and Lieu has also been endorsed by Waxman and the L.A. Times. Carr, on the other hand, has gotten endorsements from Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Senator John McCain, and the Los Angeles Register.
To learn more about the candidates for California’s 33rd Congressional District, visit Ted Lieu’s website here and Elan Carr’s website here.
Watch their latest debate below:
Reach Web Producer Sophia Li here. Follow her on Twitter here.
