Republican Ken Calvert has weathered the toughest re-election battle of his 32-year career on Capitol Hill, securing a victory in his House district in Southern California despite being massively outspent by Democrats.
Calvert defeated Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor, according to a projection by The Associated Press. The match was a rematch after Calvert narrowly defeated Rollins in 2022 in one of the most watched swing matches this cycle. Former President Donald Trump even traveled to the region to meet with Calvert in the final weeks of the race.
Republicans have a slight registration advantage in the district, which covers a large area east of Los Angeles, from suburban Riverside County to deep blue Palm Springs. Democrats had hoped to flip the seat by casting Calvert as a career politician who has used his office to enrich himself and an opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, a problem for voters in his district’s gay retirement mecca.
But Calvert pushed back on Democrats’ onslaught of negative ads by highlighting how he has used his position on the House Appropriations Committee to free up money for road and water projects in the district. He also criticized Democrats over California’s high gas prices and public safety concerns, portraying Rollins as a tough-on-crime liberal.
