Ken Calvert

Kenneth Stanton Calvert (born June 8, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for CA's 41st congressional district, and previously the 44th, 42nd, and 43rd, serving since 1993.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

The district is part of the Inland Empire of Southern California.

Calvert was born in Corona, California, to Marceline Hamblen and Ira D. Calvert Jr., and still lives in Corona.

In 1970, shortly after high school, he joined the congressional campaign of former state Assemblyman Victor Veysey.

He graduated from Corona High School in 1971.

Calvert worked in Veysey's Washington, D.C., office as an intern after a 1972 victory.

Calvert received an Associate of Arts degree from Chaffey Community College in 1973 and a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University in 1975.

After graduation, he managed his family's restaurant in Corona, the Jolly Fox, for five years.

He then entered the real estate industry and ran Ken Calvert Real Properties until he was elected to Congress.

In 1982, the 29-year-old Calvert ran for the United States House of Representatives to represent a newly drawn district.

He narrowly lost the Republican primary to Riverside County Supervisor Al McCandless, who was the choice of the Republican establishment.

McCandless won the general election.

From 1984 to 1988, Calvert chaired the Riverside County Republican Party.

Calvert was first elected to the House in a new district in 1992, while McCandless was reelected in a different district.

Calvert won the general election with 47% of the vote, defeating Democrat Mark Takano by 519 votes.

In 1994, he defeated Joe Khoury in the Republican primary, 51% to 49%.

He was reelected in the 1994 general election with 55% of the vote, again defeating Takano.

In 1996, Calvert was reelected with 54% of the vote, defeating Democrat Guy Kimbrough.

In 1998 he defeated Democrat Mike Rayburn with 55% of the vote.

Calvert won again in 2000 with 74% of the vote, facing no major-party opposition.

Calvert was reelected in 2002, defeating college administrator Louis Vandenberg with 64% of the vote.

He defeated Vandenberg again in 2004 with 61% of the vote, and in 2006 with 60% of the vote.

In 2008, Calvert had a surprisingly close race, defeating Democratic nominee Bill Hedrick with 52% of the vote.

He declared victory immediately, but Hedrick waited three weeks before conceding, due to unusually high turnout prolonging the vote-counting process.

On June 10, 2009, Calvert introduced H.R. 2788, the Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act.

This Act designates a national memorial at March Field Air Museum in honor of current and former members of the armed forces who have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Calvert worked to assemble a bipartisan group of 48 cosponsors for this legislation.

Calvert introduced H. Res. 377, a bill recognizing Armed Forces Day and the service of the members of the United States Armed Forces on April 29, 2009.

This bill received 70 bipartisan cosponsorships and passed the House unanimously on May 14, 2009.

In 2010, Hedrick ran against Calvert again.

While most pundits, such as Larry Sabato, expected him to lose again, sources such as The New York Times ranked the race more competitive.

The New York Times re-ranked this race from solid Republican to leaning Republican.

Calvert won by ten percentage points.

On March 19, 2010, H.R. 2788 unanimously passed the House of Representatives.

On March 25, 2010, Calvert introduced H. Res. 1219 to support the designation of a National Child Awareness Month to promote awareness of children's charities and youth-serving organizations across the country.

The National Journal's Cook Political Report named Calvert one of the top 10 Republicans most vulnerable to redistricting in 2012, largely due to his district's rapidly growing Hispanic population.

Despite this, Calvert defeated opponent Michael Williamson with 61% of the vote.

In 2022, Calvert sought reelection in California's 41st congressional district due to redistricting.

He defeated Democrat Will Rollins in the November 2022 general election.