OCEANSIDE — Oceanside City Council’s representative for District 2 has announced his bid for the 49th Congressional District.
Councilmember Christopher Rodriguez, a Republican, officially announced his campaign for Congress on May 24. His campaign will likely set him against incumbent Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano) and fellow Republican Brian Maryott in 2022, who lost to Levin in the 2020 election.
Besides his role as a council member, Rodriguez is also a combat Marine veteran, businessman and father of seven. His campaign describes his life story as “the true American dream.”
Rodriguez originally hails from Chicago, where his father was a member of a notorious street gang. His mother fled with her children from their abusive father and eventually remarried his stepfather, who first sparked Rodriguez’s interest in becoming a Marine.
Rodriguez became a father early in his teenage years, which he said inspired him to work even harder. After 9/11, he decided to become a Marine.
He served two combat tours in Iraq and was injured during his second tour in Fallujah by a rocket-propelled grenade that hit his platoon. After that, he received a Purple Heart but was unable to return to combat.
“The American Dream isn’t handed to anyone,” Rodriguez said in his campaign launch video. “You have to fight for it, no excuses.”
According to Rodriguez, his incumbent opponent Levin has lied to his constituents about being a moderate problem-solver in Washington. Instead, Rodriguez claims, Levin is “one of the most reliable votes for Nancy Pelosi and AOC’s socialism in Congress.”
“He wants us to believe he’s bipartisan but all he has done is obey Nancy Pelosi,” Rodriguez states in his campaign announcement. “I’m running for office because I know this district doesn’t want a spineless wimp in Congress.”
Rodriguez intends to push back against “bad ideas like The Green New Deal, defunding the police and massive socialist spending policies that have already started an inflationary crisis.”
The district’s next election isn’t until 2022. Rodriguez told KUSI News that he wanted to get started early because of the amount of work and fundraising he has ahead.
A few residents have questioned how Rodriguez will be able to continue representing Oceanside throughout his campaign.
“We’ve gotten so much done over the past two years and I will continue to fight hard for Oceanside through my congressional campaign,” Rodriguez told The Coast News.
