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Ken Calvert, Young Kim Appear Headed To Ugly GOP Runoff For California House Seat

WASHINGTON — Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim appear headed to a messy November runoff election for California’s 40th congressional district, after Democrats pitted them against each other in a newly redrawn district.

Votes were still coming in Wednesday afternoon from their primary election the night before, but Calvert has already secured enough support to advance to the general election, with 36.2% of the vote. Kim was behind him, with 21.6% of the votes. Democrat Esther Kim-Varet was in third place, at 15.5%.

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In California, all candidates in a congressional primary race are listed on one ballot ― regardless of their party ― and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election in November. Calvert and Kim are on track to make the cut.

This Southern California district, which represents parts of Orange and Riverside counties, is one of five that Democrats redrew after California voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure in December allowing them to do so. Democrats’ goal in lumping Calvert and Kim into the same district wasn’t to make it easier for a Democrat to win here, as this region is solidly Republican, but to force one of them out of Congress entirely.

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The two have been running neck-and-neck in their campaigns, and both have spent gobs of money trying to sink the other. Kim raised nearly $8 million over the course of the primary, far more than Calvert’s roughly $5.2 million. But Calvert benefited from a shady super PAC, Americans 4 Security, spending nearly $3 million in attack ads against Kim.

Calvert, who has been in Congress for 34 years, has been attacking Kim for not being sufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump. He dubbed her a “backstabbing RINO,” or a Republican In Name Only, and a “Trump-traitor.” The Americans 4 Security-funded ads went after Kim for being soft on criminals and described her as “a liberal” and a “Trump hater” because she previously voted to censure President Donald Trump.

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Kim, a three-term congresswoman, ran a particularly brutal ad against Calvert highlighting his past scandals. After noting Calvert was dubbed one of the “most corrupt” members of Congress in a 2009 Orange County Register article, Kim’s ad describes him as “swampy” and “sleazy,” and then brings up a 1994 Los Angeles Times story about Calvert getting “busted with a **********, pants down in his car, tried to flee, then lied to police.”

“No wonder President Trump can’t trust Calvert,” the ad says.

For now, Calvert is celebrating his sweep in the primary election.

“Tonight makes it clear that voters want an effective and consistent conservative who has been with President Trump from Day One,” he said on social media in the wee hours of Wednesday. “I look forward to winning this race in November!”