California — 49th District

Armen Kurdian, 55, a Republican and retired Navy captain, is running for Congress representing coastal North County and southern Orange County in California’s 49th Congressional District.

Kurdian, originally from Kansas, now lives in Vista and works in engineering and management.

The San Diego Union-Tribune emailed a series of questions to Kurdian and other candidates to help inform voters about their positions, priorities and plans if elected.

Kurdian said he did not use any AI tools in responding to the Union-Tribune’s questions.

1) Why are you running, and what makes you the best candidate? (150 words max)

I served 25 years as a naval officer and retired with distinction. During my time in the Navy I led hundreds of men and women, both in a high-pressure combat theater and in the office environment. I managed $100 million budgets and contracts that delivered capability to our warfighters. I solved hard problems in naval aviation and got more of our planes into mission-ready condition; the admiral in command said he had never seen anyone come close to me in terms of what our teams were able to accomplish under my leadership.

I enjoy applying my skillsets in the betterment of others — it’s what I do, and it’s what matters to me. I am a lifelong public servant, and as your next congressman, I will apply the full measure of my abilities to lowering the cost of living, improving education and schools and pushing policies that encourage job growth.

2) What are the top 3 issues facing this district? (150 words max)

The cost of living has skyrocketed, families can’t afford to buy a home, and small business creation has been dropping with unemployment the highest in the nation.

These factors have been driving people out of the state at an increasing rate. Our state population has dropped by 1.5 million people, including here in San Diego County, despite its beauty and the best weather in the world. Add in public safety — to include property crime, fire preparedness and care for the homeless — as areas where we are failing our citizens and families.

We have to make life less expensive for families, give their kids better schools and encourage job creation, because at the end of the day, we need to be able to live in a state where we aren’t fighting paycheck to paycheck and can actually put money away towards retirement and our children’s education.

3) What are the first 3 things you would do in your first/next term in Congress? (150 words max)

We must reduce the cost of living for everyone. For example, energy costs are double that of other states. We need to encourage an all-of-the-above energy policy and quit forcing oil companies out of the state, which makes gas more expensive and has cost thousands of jobs.

Second, we need student loan reform to make sure students are getting the degrees we need for our economy and eliminate predatory lending practices that condemn them to endless debt.

Finally, I would work with state and local officials, labor and business to figure out how to bring skilled manufacturing jobs back to California. These jobs have dropped by 50% over the last few decades; this is unacceptable, and we can only solve this problem by working together.

4) If your party wins control of Congress, what should be its first priority? If your party loses control of Congress, what should be its first priority? (100 words max)

Our priorities should never change as a nation regardless of who is in power: Lower the cost of living, improve schools and education, and encourage job creation. I believe Democrats want the same thing; they have jobs and families too, last time I checked.

We can all work together to make government more efficient, work faster and spend less without cutting programs or services. This is what I did in the Navy — I solved problems, saved taxpayers millions of dollars and in the end got better results. We can do this in Congress as well.

5) President Trump has made cracking down on immigration a cornerstone of his administration, ordering widespread arrests and detentions of immigrants nationwide and directing military resources to a new military zone along the U.S.- Mexico border. What impact have these had on this district? What are your goals on immigrants, immigration and the border, and how would you pursue them if elected? What is your message to constituents who are immigrants? (150 words max)

2025 saw a record low of migrant deaths in the Americas since 2014 thanks to strong border enforcement and discouraging people from making the dangerous trek to the U.S. Until then, the death and misery to which immigrants had been subjected when making that journey — and the untold billions of dollars that have gone to the cartels that traffic in humans — were horrific.

We can solve this problem with smart policies on green cards, work permits and facilitating legal immigration in cooperation with state governments, labor and business. If immigrants want to become American citizens, let us stop circumventing the law and make it easier. Let us do it the right way, safely, like my mother, grandparents and many of my cousins and in-laws did.

6) It’s been nearly two months since the United States began a war with Iran. Do you believe Americans are better or worse off for it? What should Congress’s role be? Would you vote to let the president continue the war beyond the 60 days after which congressional authorization is required? (150 words max)

I was nearly five the last time I was in Iran, before the revolution. It is a beautiful country, filled with rich culture, and great people, run by a government of fanatical religious tyrants who have exported terror around the world, and are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands, including well over one-thousand Americans in that time.

Iran began this war with the United States 47 years ago. They were never going to negotiate away their nuclear program under any circumstances.

A nuclear-armed Iran would expose the world to terror unlike anything we have ever seen. Congress can pass laws to strengthen our exports of oil and natural gas to our allies so that they do not have to buy from Iran or other countries hostile to the U.S., which strengthens our national security and eliminates revenue for countries like Iran.

7) Recent jumps in the cost of fuel, food and other goods — combined with federal cuts to safety-net programs, new limits on certain federal loans and more — are squeezing residents already struggling with San Diego County’s high costs of living. What relief would you seek to offer, and how? (150 words max)

If California would stop chasing refineries out of the state (42 at its peak down to 11), this would make it easier to make gas here instead of having to transport it from out of state. The same with nuclear energy: Reactors have become much smaller since the 1990s — we can build more of these plants and generate cheaper electricity without emissions. This would make food production less expensive.

We also need to eliminate burdensome regulations that have restricted job growth and in turn make the cost of doing business so high. If it weren’t so expensive to live here, fewer people would be forced into government assistance. I want to free families from dependency on a government check so they can truly prosper in our beautiful state.

8) Like much of California, this district has been affected by the effects of climate change. How should Congress mitigate those impacts, and what would you do to pursue such efforts? (100 words max)

Our environment has been negatively impacted by green energy mandates that have driven up costs for everyone, impacting lower-income families the most, making them have to choose between rent, medicine or quality nutrition. Poverty has a negative impact on the environment. Raising our standard of living is the best way to protect our environment. Instead of banning plastic bags, for example, let’s make it easier for farmers to make quality and nutritious food, cut grocery bills and give families more of their money to keep.

9) Polling underscores that one chief concern of California voters in the 2026 midterm elections is the issue of threats to democracy. What do you believe are the greatest threats to American democracy? How would you, and how should Congress, protect against these? (100 words max)

We have seen repeated situations on our college campuses where conservative voices are shouted down and silenced. And the recent surge in political violence by the far left where reporters are beaten, law enforcement is attacked and targeted for assassination and even our president (among others) has been targeted by an assassin three times is beyond unacceptable in our republic. When our First Amendment rights are trampled, when politicians in both parties put their thumbs on the scale through gerrymandering, our republic is damaged. We must be impartial as elected leaders and speak out against all of it, regardless of whether it originates from the left or right.

10) Do you support a ban or restriction on congressional lawmakers and their families buying or selling individual stocks? Why or why not? And what would you propose to ensure lawmakers aren’t using their positions to engage in insider trading? (100 words max)

Whether or not there is intent, the perception of conflict of interest is real. I personally pledge not to trade individual stocks when I am elected. There are mechanisms for retirement planning and investments that could firewall congressional members from those decisions. Congressional power to pass laws is simply too great.

11) By design Congress is supposed to serve as a check on the executive branch through budgetary, legislative and oversight powers. Do you believe that Congress has fulfilled that obligation in recent years? Why or why not? Should Congress do more to hold the president accountable? Explain. (150 words max)

There are a lot of things Congress needs to do better. Passing a budget and not holding our national security hostage should be at the top of the list. How can Congress hold the president accountable when hundreds of billions of our tax dollars are wasted or lost every year? I intend on calling out waste and abuse when I am elected. If Congress can be more functional, then its relationship with the president will be more effective.

12) A recent San Diego Union-Tribune poll found voters overwhelmingly disapprove of the job Congress is doing, by higher margins than they disapprove of the job Trump is doing. Why do you think this is? How can Congress win back voters’ hope and trust, and what would you personally do to achieve this? (150 words max)

Families toil and work all year long trying to support their families, pay their taxes only to have their elected leaders squander the money they send to Washington, with little accountability or effort to find waste, and call it out. The American people are sick and tired of mediocrity. They want results. They want prosperity. They want a lower cost of living, better schools and higher employment. As your next congressman, I will speak truth and provide as much transparency as I can. We need more members of Congress who care about serving their district and working for their constituents than just finding opportunities to score hollow political points and counting their social media likes.