Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., speaks at a "Barbeque, Beer and Ballots" event organized by Reform California on Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Corona, Calif.
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California is one of the most heavily Democratic states in the country. But in a U.S. House district southeast of Los Angeles, the campaign is being shaped by a different dynamic: Two sitting GOP lawmakers are duking it out over who is most loyal to President Donald Trump. Rep. Ken Calvert is the longest serving Republican in the state’s House delegation. He is running ads calling rival Rep. Young Kim a “traitor” to the president. Kim has dubbed herself a “Trump Republican” and aired spots accusing Calvert of “sabotaging President Trump’s agenda.” The Republican-versus-Republican primary resulted from the national fight over redistricting, which in California could result in five fewer Republican-held seats.
California’s redrawn US House map gets its first test as Democrats hope to counter GOP redistricting
California’s congressional primaries were a preliminary test of Democrats’ best chance at countering Republican redistricting gains elsewhere this year. The party won voter approval last year to redraw the state’s congressional map to create five more winnable U.S. House seats. Democrats have long worried about the possibility of a shutout in one of the redrawn districts. They had feared that scenario in a San Diego-area district that was redrawn to become a swing seat, but they avoided it there. However, Democrats remained at risk of a shutout in a Sacramento-area seat they expected to easily win in November.
