About
Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) has served southern California’s 42nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1992. For the first time in three decades, his reelection in 2022 was less certain, according to The New York Times, due to redistricting that includes the very gay city of Palm Springs. Having scored a zero on the Human Rights Campaign’s most recent rating of how well members of Congress address issues of interest to the LGBTQ community, the congressman suddenly reversed course in July 2022 to vote in favor of a bill recognizing same-sex marriage at the federal level. Still—and with Trump’s endorsement again—he barely won reelection, earning just 52% of the vote.
Prior to running for office, Calvert worked as a small business owner in the restaurant and real estate industries. His real estate company has been accused of corruption on several occasions. In 2005, for instance, Calvert and his partner at Ken Calvert Real Properties paid $550,000 for a parcel of land in California that they sold for $985,000—a 79% increase—less than a year later, without making any improvements to the parcel. During that year, Calvert sponsored an earmark for an $8-million overhaul and expansion of a freeway interchange 16 miles from the property, as well as an additional $1.5 million for commercial development in the area.
Both before and after the 2020 presidential election, Calvert helped reinforce the Big Lie. He also objected to certifying the Electoral College results and voted against both impeaching Trump for inciting the mob and establishing a special House committee to investigate the insurrection.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, Calvert joined 146 other congressional Republicans in refusing to certify Biden’s win of the 2020 presidential election.
- Calvert voted against impeaching Trump for his role in inciting the mob that disrupted congressional certification of the presidential election.
- Calvert voted against establishing a special House committee to investigate the violent assault on both the Capitol and the congressional members and staffers at work inside..
The Big Lie
- Calvert speculated on fraud and irregularities prior to the 2020 election, tweeting: “Are we really supposed to believe it’s fine for paid Democrat operatives to collect ballots from strangers and throw them in a bag, but churches aren’t allowed to collect them for members of their congregation and put them in a box?”
- In a press release on Nov. 19, 2020, Calvert initially stated, “Overall, I believe the election was fair.” However, he went on to defend Trump’s “right to ensure vote counts are complete, accurate and legal,” and added, “It’s ironic that many who are criticizing him for exercising that right are the very same people who sought to delegitimize his presidency with demonstrably false claims of Russian collusion.”
- On Dec. 10, 2020, Calvert signed an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the presidential election in four swing states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- In objecting to the certification of the Electoral College results, Calvert claimed that he was “especially troubled by Constitutionally questionable changes of voting rules in some states by authorities other than state legislatures. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court—rather than the Pennsylvania legislature—extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be returned until three days after Election Day.”
- Calvert further attempted to justify his objection to the certification of Pennsylvania’s and Arizona’s electors by claiming that, “Congressional Democrats have raised similar objections when every Republican was elected president over the past two decades”—a claim he was unable to substantiate since it’s untrue.
- In 2021, when Calvert voted against H.R. 1—the voter protection bill also known as the For the People Act—he derisively dubbed it the “Democrat Politician Protection Plan” and complained that Democrats “only want their paid operatives, which could include foreign nationals under their rules” to collect ballots.