Citizen candidate to challenge Dianne Feinstein in Senate race

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

David Levitt, founding director of OccupyGovernment.org, told Cenk Uygur back in October that his organization had a candidate in mind to challenge U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). But he left out one important detail: He is that candidate.

Levitt, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, officially announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate earlier this month and announced Thursday that he's secured the signatures needed to get on the ballot statewide.

"As a founding member of Be Your Government, I realized this was necessary. If you make a product, don’t just say 'someone else will really like this,' you have to test it," Levitt told us Thursday. "I felt moral or patriotic obligation to follow through."

Levitt is concerned that politics has become a million-dollar business. He criticized Feinstein for cutting her campaign a $5 million check to replenish funds that were allegedly embezzled by a California Democratic treasurer. According to the latest Federal Election Commission reports, Feinstein has more than $6 million cash-on-hand.

"People assume Feinstein is a popular senator, but it’s really just her money keeping her safe," Levitt said.

Levitt is also critical of Feinstein's past support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as, her opposition to the legalization of marijuana.

Levitt -- the founder and lead engineer of Levity Novelty LLC, which makes apps for the iPhone, iPad and other iOS devices -- will be on the ballot in California’s non-partisan primary, which takes place on June 5. The top two candidates from the primary will advance to the general election.

"It became the easiest thing in the world to get signatures," Levitt said. His first signatures were from friends and family, but more quickly followed. "It's not like I had to ask 152 people to get 150 signatures."

Levitt, who has said he won’t be accepting corporate donations, is hoping technology will help him overcome the financial hurdles of running against a four-time incumbent.

"Planning to spend a million dollars on television ads used to be a prerequisite," Levitt said. "Technology innovations allow democracy to be less costly."

Like most candidates running in 2012, Levitt says his campaign will focus on jobs and the economy.

"It all comes back to the economy," Levitt said. "If we just get it together and manage our resources … if we have a real Congress that acts in the public’s best interest then we’ll have trillions of more dollars and won’t have all these problems."

Watch Levitt's full interview with The Young Turks at Occupy Wall Street back in October: