Former Congressman Andy Levin talks election loss, future plans

After years working in organized labor, Andy Levin spent four years in the U.S. House of Representatives. His primary defeat last August snapped a four-decade run by the Levin family in Congress. Levin’s father Sander served in the House for 36 years — his uncle Carl was a six-term U.S. Senator.

Recently, Levin announced he will serve as a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for America Progress, focusing on protecting democracy. He sat down with WDET’s Russ McNamara to reflect on his time in Congress, the state of our democracy and his plans for the future.

“We came close to losing our democracy, and we better not fall asleep and think it can’t happen. Because it almost did, and it still could.” — Andy Levin, former U.S. Congressman

Listen: Former Congressman Andy Levin reflects on the state of our democracy

Guest
Andy Levin is a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former U.S. Congressman. He says it is important not to take our democracy for granted.

“We have to shore up our democracy in many ways,” says Levin. “We have to shore up voting rights. We have to shore up access to the polls. We have to make sure that people aren’t taken off voting lists.

“We have to try to deal with all the dark money in politics,” he continues. “We have to make sure that people can’t overturn the results of elections where the voters make their choices.”