Representative Sandy Levin's 9th Congressional District seat could stay in the family when he retires in 2019.
Sandy Levin's son, Andy Levin, announced his bid Wednesday to succeed his father in Washington, D.C.
The Democrat is an entrepreneur and former head of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic growth.
Levin says he's witnessed four decades of trickle-down economics, which has concentrated all the wealth in the top one percent in the country.
"And working people just haven’t seen any of the benefit of our increased productivity over my whole adult lifetime," he said. He says he wants to change that.
Levin says he has a track record of working with bipartisan lawmakers outside of politics. And that it would make him effective in a divided Congress.
"My experience outside of government, I think, is my best qualification," he said.
As the former director of worker training for the State of Michigan, Levin created No Worker Left Behind. He also started his own clean-energy business.
Levin says he wants to focus on issues including infrastructure, health care, and mass and inner-city transit if elected.
"We should have bullet trains between cities like Detroit and Chicago, which would help not only everyone in Detroit and Chicago, and get rapid transit to the airport, but it would help the smaller cities in between," he said.
Levin says he's proud of the legacy of "integrity, and honesty and hard work for the people of Michigan" left by his father, Sandy and uncle, Carl Levin.
“And if I can help carry that on in any little way, I’ll be very proud to do it.”
