It was so hot in Borough Park last Sunday that you could have made a lox omelette on the sidewalk of 13th avenue, but Republican candidate for New York’s 10th Congressional District Naomi Levin was cool as a cucumber as she sipped an ice tea and introduced herself to mostly orthodox and Hasidic Jewish voters along the commercial thoroughfare.
“I love coming to Borough Park. It’s the most support I receive anywhere. Only one person said they wouldn’t vote for me and then they nodded at me like they were joking,” said Levin, who lives in the Manhattan end of the district .
The young twenty-something candidate is anything but the typical “progressive” millennial that one finds around Brooklyn these days. Levin is running as a conservative and is coming into politics for her first run at public office after receiving a dual degree from Boston University in biology and computer science, and working as a software engineer.
But Levin has her political work cut out for her come the November general election as she faces 13-term Democrat U.S. Rep. Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler in of the country’s most Democratic districts. It includes mainly the very liberal West Side of Manhattan along with Borough Park, Kensington, and parts of Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Red Hook, Sunset Park and Midwood.
While Nadler easily beat Republican Phil Rosenthal with 78 percent of the vote two years ago, the race was much closer on the Brooklyn side of the district and Rosenthal actually carried Borough Park.
“My parents were immigrants from the former Soviet Union and I have a deep appreciation for freedom,” said Levin. “Nadler votes against U.S. interests all the time. He voted for the Iran nuclear deal and voted against increased military spending, and against reducing regulations that make our businesses thrive. I want to safeguard our freedoms and values that make our country great.”
Levin said she has always embraced the conservative values that shaped this country and allowed it to thrive. She also supports many of Trump’s policies.
“I fully support the president of the United States and hope the administration can lead in making improvements in the county. Keep and expand education opportunity and economic growth,” Levin said.
When it comes to immigration, Levin said she supports immigrants and immigration but there are a number of complicated issues involved.
“We are a country of immigrants, but we are also a country of laws. We have laws so we have to enforce them. We also need to control who can cross our border and support our efforts to do that,” said Levin. “Once in Congress, I plan to work with the Congressional majority to improve immigration reform. It should be a bipartisan effort that everyone works on instead of harassing ICE officials in New Jersey like my opponent. My opponent will vote “no’ on any bill Republican pass simply because it’s passed by the Republican majority.”
In terms of impeaching President Trump, Levin said the only time a president should be impeached is if there are grounds for impeachment, and she hasn’t seen any thus far with Trump.
“We are living in a time of extreme polarization on both sides, and trying to break through that is difficult,” Levin said.
“As an engineer my approach is through finding solutions and repair. In order to fix problems we have to work together,” she added.
The general election is Nov. 6.
