RIVERSIDE, California — Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) has survived multiple redistricting efforts. The 72-year-old, who represents part of Southern California’s Inland Empire, is the longest-serving Republican in the state’s congressional delegation. He has held his seat for 33 years, watched his district be redrawn twice, and isn’t afraid of a fair fight.
But Calvert claims that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and state Democratic lawmakers are trying to stack the deck against him and four other Republican representatives who are at risk of losing their seats if Proposition 50, a controversial redistricting ballot measure, is passed on Tuesday.
Calvert serves the 41st District, centered in the competitive western Inland Empire. If Democrats get their way on the redistricting map, Calvert’s district will be wiped out entirely and redrawn in Los Angeles County — shifting him from a Republican-leaning seat to a solidly Democratic one.
He has accused Newsom of being on the ultimate power trip and using intimidation tactics to bully donors and secure a “backroom deal” to wipe out California Republican representation in Congress.
“The problem we’re going to have here is that he’s intimidated any potential donor, any business, any individual contributing anything to oppose Prop 50,” Calvert told the Washington Examiner. “His quest is to eliminate any opposing voices. It’s just ultimate power.”
One Republican staffer, who was not authorized to talk to the media, said this would have never happened if the roles were reversed.
“We never threaten or intimidate businesses,” he told the Washington Examiner. “You will never hear someone claiming we did either.”
Calvert said Newsom has “made it quite known that he is on the revenge circuit” and that “he’s going to remember anybody who puts money into opposing Proposition 50.” He added that the environment Newsom is creating breeds fear and intimidation and that business owners are scared to challenge the ballot measure due to possible repercussions.
“California does a lot of business, so a lot of these business guys are afraid to speak out,” Calvert said. “These are friends of mine, but I think they need to start thinking more about their state than anything else. We can’t allow [Newsom] to have absolute power.”
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Calvert’s district was redrawn in 2021 and stretches from Corona to Palm Springs in a “W” shape, including parts of Riverside County. Under the new map, Democrats would hold 20 percentage points more in the district than Republicans.
“It was the ultimate backroom deal, and they sat there and laughed about it and what they were doing to us,” Calvert said, barely able to mask his anger.
Kristen Chatwell, a Republican voter in Calvert’s district, told the Washington Examiner that by next year, her voice and vote would carry zero weight in California.
“I am a MAGA Republican in California,” she told the Washington Examiner. “Do you honestly think I will be represented? Congressman Calvert spoke for me. Democrats don’t care about me or my issues. This is a way for Newsom to shut us up. That’s his ultimate goal, but somehow, he still comes out looking like a big hero fighting for democracy while we look unhinged. All we want is what he wants — representation. Only, he’s taking ours away and loving every minute of it.”
Resident Ranetta Cook seemed a little more optimistic, saying things would go back to “normal” after 2030. Her husband, Joe, did not feel the same.
“Fat chance, Netta,” he told her. “They win on Tuesday, and we’re stuck for life.”
Calvert agreed, telling the Washington Examiner that there was no way Newsom would make good on his claims that the changes to the map would be temporary and that the state would return to giving the voter-approved independent redistricting commission power.
“It’s not that I’m cynical, I’m just realistic that once they get the power to draw the districts and take it away from this redistricting commission, they will never give up that authority ever, and so basically California becomes a single-party state,” he said. “They’ll continue to draw any opposing voice out of any representative body at all, whether it’s the state legislature, the state Senate, or Congress. And so you will have a single-party state with no checks and balances.”
Getting Calvert out of office has been on the Democratic wish list for some time.
Last year, Calvert narrowly held his seat against Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor. Calvert already has eight challengers lined up who are hoping to unseat him in next year’s midterm elections. One challenger was Tim Myers, the former bassist of OneRepublic. Myers has since pivoted, dropping out of the contest to run in California’s lieutenant governor race instead. The founding member of the rock group said he is campaigning to “fix a broken political system dominated by career politicians and special interests and rigged against the working class.”
Calvert has already put in more than $250,000 of his own money into fighting Proposition 50. He has put up posters and tried to recruit others to give to the cause. He knows it will be an uphill battle on Tuesday but said he’s got to give it a try.
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Proposition 50 approves a new congressional map passed by the state legislature. The push for redrawn districts is a direct response to Texas redrawing its map in favor of Republicans at the request of President Donald Trump, who is seeking to hold on to power during next year’s midterm elections.
Newsom has framed the fight as one to save the soul of democracy. Calvert described it as a self-serving effort by Newsom to boost himself on the national stage. The outgoing governor is considered one of the Democratic front-runners for the 2028 presidential nomination.