Langworthy, Levin race for 9th Congressional District seat
Oakland County voters will see two major party candidates on their ballot under the race for Michigan’s 9th Congressional District.
U. S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township), is seeking his reelection for a second term against Republican Charles Langworthy. Levin did not have a primary opponent, but Langworthy defeated his primary opponents, Gabi Grossbard and Douglas Allen Troszak, with 57% of the vote.
Before being elected to Congress in 2018, Levin served as director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, now theMichigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, from 2007-2011 under Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
During the Great Recession, Levin created and directed the state’s “No Worker Left Behind” program, which provided training to 162,000 unemployed and underemployed Michiganders.
After leaving state government in 2011, Levin founded his own clean energy company, Levin Energy Partners, LLC, which aims to reduce carbon emissions while improving public health and water quality. During the 1990’s, Levin spent time as a staff attorney for former President Bill Clinton’s labor law reform commission.
Levin currently sits on two House committees including the Committee on Education and Labor, where he serves as vice chair, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Langworthy, a U.S. Navy
veteran and Roseville resident, was born and raised in the 9th district. He describes himself as “a man of conviction with a good moral compass.”
Michigan’s 9th Congressional District includes portions of Oakland and Macomb counties.
The district includes the communities of Ferndale, Madison Heights, Beverly Hills, Franklin, Royal Oak, Hazel Park, St. Clair Shores, Warren, Bloomfield Township, and Clinton Township, and Sterling Heights.
The Oakland Press reached out to each candidate with questions pertaining to their candidacy. Responses to some of those questions are detailed below.
The presidential general election is being held on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
OP: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the United States right now and how would you help to remedy and combat those issues?
• Levin: The biggest challenge is definitely COVID-19 and the massive recession caused by the pandemic and the administration’s failure to control it. COVID-19 is laying bare the most fundamental injustices
in our country: that working people have not gotten a fair shake for generations and that people of color are disproportionately impacted by crises because of systemic inequities. House Democrats have now passed two relief packages that have been ignored by the Republican Senate. These bills would help us quash the virus, protect essential workers, inject stabilization funds into struggling local governments, help keep our small businesses af loat, facilitate safe reopening of schools, and more. Every policy has looked at the problem through a lens of racial equity to make sure our most impacted communities will get the support they need. While Mitch McConnell has refused to take action on these items, I look forward to a new Democratic Senate and White House joining us in providing real relief to the many families still struggling.
• Langworthy: The biggest challenge facing the United States is Marxism. Our fundamental liberties are under attack. Giant multinational corporations have bought and paid politicians to serve them and bring the people into serfdom. These corporations only care about profits and the best way to increase profits is to consolidate power into the hands of their puppet politicians. Marxism is not about equality for all it is about equality for the ruling class, if you work for a living you are not in the ruling class. The ruling class has pushed a huge wedge into the people and pitted us against each other. Divide and conquer it is the oldest trick in the book. While we all fight amongst each other they grab more power. The corporate elitists and their proxy politicians then steal our liberties, our money, and our livelihoods. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. We must protect small businesses because they have been forgotten about. The mega corporations have paid the politicians to make laws that hurt small business so the corporations get a bigger market share which equals more profits. Our constitutional rights must be upheld if we are to not fall into the tyranny of Marxism. Under Marxism the people are subjugated to the whims of the ruling class. This is contrary to everything this nation stands for. We are also losing our religious liberties. Christianity is under attack from government, the media, and Hollywood. One nation under God is a strong nation with morals. When we lose our morals we are easier to control. That is why we must put God back in our lives, our communities, and our schools. Through the light of Jesus Christ this country will be free and prosperous.
OP: How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your view and outlook on the responsibilities and duties of those who are elected to serve in our democracy?
• Levin: The sacred duty to serve our constituents has never been more important, but particularly within the federal government. I hold regular calls with my local leaders and state legislators in my district, and there is only so much they can do during this unprecedented pandemic without comprehensive relief that can only be provided by Washington. The one legislative accomplishment of the Trump administration is giving trillions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest among us, and now Republicans are hiding behind the deficit they increased to say we cannot provide muchneeded relief. Friends, the truth is, we cannot afford not to. We cannot afford the millions of jobs lost, nor one more American life over the 210,000 we’ve already lost. This moment calls for a wholeof-government response to tackle this once-in-a-generation public health and economic crisis.
• Langworthy: This whole thing has been over politicized and is being used to divide the people. Never let a good crisis go to waste right? How many people who died of COVID-19 would have died of the flu, pneumonia, or some other type of sickness. Do we politicize pneumonia? How many people who died, died with COVID-19 in their system but not of COVID-19? The media is using COVID-19 to fear monger. A fearful population is much easier to control. The Marxist agenda uses fear to achieve its goals. It came from China a communist country that has infiltrated our corporations and bought our media and politicians. See the Marxist connection here? This is why we must uphold the constitution even more ardently in a time of crisis, because a crisis is always used to strip our liberties which we will never get back even when the crisis passes.