Rep. Calvert declared winner in contested Southern California congressional race

Longtime Rep. Ken Calvert has survived a fierce reelection battle against fellow Republican Rep. Young Kim to represent a newly drawn Southern California congressional district.

The Associated Press on Monday evening declared Calvert the winner in the narrowly divided race, a week after the Nov. 3 election. Calvert had declared victory on Thursday, though Kim did not concede.

The two fought over one of the state’s last “safe” Republican areas, a red district spanning Orange and Riverside counties. Both supporters of President Trump, the two were viewed as friendly allies before the race.

The district was redrawn under Proposition 50, the voter-backed initiative to boost the Democratic Party’s numbers in the U.S. House of Representatives after Trump cajoled Texas into carving out districts more favorable to Republicans. The reconfigured congressional districts under Proposition 50, placed on the ballot by the Democratic-led state Legislature, put both Calvert and Kim in the same district, ensuring one would be knocked off. Calvert is from Corona and Kim from Anaheim Hills.

Calvert, 73, retained about half of his constituents in the redrawn district, giving him an edge. Kim, 64, kept about a third of hers.

Calvert was first elected to Congress in 1992, making him the longest-serving GOP member of California’s congressional delegation. He serves as a senior member of the House Committee on Appropriations and is chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Kim, a prolific fundraiser who defeated Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros in 2020 after losing to him two years earlier, outspent Calvert in the race, amassing a massive war chest of $10 million to Calvert’s $7 million.

Americans 4 Security PAC spent more than $6 million to get Calvert reelected, including by sending out fliers to Democratic voters linking Kim and Trump. Though both candidates back Trump, the fliers sought to dissuade Democrats from backing Kim.

The PAC’s donors include two executives from Miami-based Palantir, whose software is used by the U.S. military, among its donors.

The 40th District reaches from Mission Viejo in Orange County into Woodcrest, Menifee and Murrieta in Riverside County.

Registered Republicans make up less than 40% of registered voters in the redrawn district. An additional 21% are no-party-preference voters, according to statistics from the California secretary of state’s office. Democratic voters account for about 31% of the district.