Ken Calvert

Kenneth Stanton Calvert (born June 8, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for California's 42nd congressional district, and previously the 44th and 43rd, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is part of the Inland Empire of Southern California.

Ken Calvert
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from California
Assumed office
January 3, 1993
Preceded byNew Constituency (Redistricting)
Constituency43rd district (1993–2003)
44th district (2003–2013)
42nd district (2013–present)
Personal details
Born
Kenneth Stanton Calvert

(1953-06-08) June 8, 1953
Corona, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationChaffey College
San Diego State University (BA)

Early life, education, and business career

Calvert was born in Corona, California, to Marceline Hamblen and Ira D. Calvert, Jr.,[1] and still lives in Corona. In 1970, shortly after high school, he joined the Congressional campaigns of former state legislator Victor Veysey. Calvert worked in Veysey's Washington, D.C., office as an intern after a 1972 victory. He graduated from Corona High School in 1971.

Calvert received an Associate of Arts degree from Chaffey Community College in 1973 and a Bachelor of Arts degree San Diego State University in 1975. After graduation, he managed his family's restaurant, the Jolly Fox, in Corona for five years. He then entered the real estate industry and ran Ken Calvert Real Properties until he was elected to Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

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 had been the choice of the Republican establishment. McCandless went on to win the general election.

Calvert was first elected to the House in 1992, when McCandless was re-elected in a different district. Calvert won the general election with 47% of the vote (a plurality, but he was the highest vote-getter), defeating Democrat Mark Takano by 519 votes. In 1994, he was challenged in the Republican primary by Joe Khoury and won renomination by only 51% to 49%. He was re-elected in the 1994 general election with 55 percent, again defeating Takano. Ironically, he now serves in the House alongside his former opponent; Takano was elected to Congress in an adjacent district in 2012.

In 1996, he was re-elected with 54 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Guy Kimbrough. In 1998 he defeated Democrat Mike Rayburn with 55 percent of the vote. Calvert won again in 2000 with 74 percent of the vote, facing no major-party opposition.

Calvert was re-elected in 2002, defeating Louis Vandenberg with 64 percent of the vote. He defeated Vandenberg again in 2004 with 61 percent of the vote. Vandenberg, a college administrator, was again Calvert's opponent in the November 2006 election. Calvert won with 60 percent of the vote; Vandenburg got 38 percent.[2]

In 2008, he had a surprisingly close race. He ran against Democratic candidate Bill Hedrick, receiving 52% of the vote.[3] Calvert declared victory immediately, but Hedrick waited three weeks before conceding, due to higher than normal turnout prolonging the vote-counting process.[4]

In 2010, Bill Hedrick ran against Calvert again. While most pundits such as Larry Sabato expected him to lose again,[5] 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.[6] In the end, Calvert won by a 10% margin.[7]

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.[8] Despite this Calvert defeated opponent Michael Williamson with 61% of the vote.[9]

Tenure
111th and 112th Congress

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. On March 19, 2010, H.R. 2788 unanimously passed the House of Representatives.[10] Calvert introduced H. Res. 377, a bill recognizing Armed Forces Day and the exemplary service of the members of the United States Armed Forces on April 29, 2009. This bill received 70 bipartisan cosponsorships and passed the House of Representatives unanimously on May 14, 2009.[11]

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 United States on March 25, 2010. Calvert assembled 40 bipartisan cosponsors for this bill and on July 19, 2010, this bill passed the House of Representatives with unanimous support.[12]

Calvert is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.[13]

In December 2017, Calvert voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.[14] Calvert called the bill "the most pro-growth tax policy our country has seen in decades." He also said that it will provide "lower taxes, more jobs, and higher wages."[15]

E-Verify

Calvert is the original author of the E-Verify law, the only employment verification program available to employers to check the work authorization status of newly hired employees. In 1995, he introduced H.R. 502, which was later included in the immigration reform bill, H.R. 2202.[16] The immigration reforms were later wrapped into the FY1997 Omnibus Appropriations Act.[17] The original program, known as the Basic Pilot Program, was only available to five states and employers used a call in system. In the 12 years since its implementation, the Basic Pilot Program, now known as E-Verify, has expanded nationwide and has over 100,000 employers using the system. Two states, Arizona and Mississippi, have made use of E-Verify mandatory. In the 111th Congress Calvert again introduced legislation to make use of E-Verify mandatory.[18]

CALFED

As Chairman of the Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, Calvert introduced H.R. 2828, The Water Supply, Reliability, and Environmental Improvement Act, which reauthorizes the CALFED Bay-Delta program. The CALFED Bay-Delta Program is a unique collaboration among 25 state and federal agencies that came together with a mission: to improve California's water supply and the ecological health of the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.[19] H.R. 2828 provides a long-term federal authorization for the western region for water supply and reliability. The bill became Public Law 108-361[20]

The NASA Reauthorization Act of 2005

In the 109th Congress, Calvert served as the Chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, which oversees NASA. As Chairman Calvert introduced and passed into law the NASA Authorization Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-155), the first reauthorization bill of civilian space and aeronautics agency in five years. The reauthorization provided NASA with the direction and tools to implement President Bush's Vision for Space Exploration while stressing the importance of their earth and space science and aeronautics work.[21]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Legislation sponsored

The following is an incomplete list of legislation Calvert sponsored:

Political positions

Abortion

Calvert opposes federal funding for abortions and late-term abortions. He also supports efforts to ensure that teenagers have permission of their parents before securing an abortion.[26]

Gas and energy

Calvert supports efforts to standardize gasoline formulas so they meet California state standards. He also supports hydrogen as an alternative energy source.[26]

Guns

Calvert opposes the creation of new gun laws.[26]

Health care

Calvert opposes the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").[26]

Immigration

Calvert opposes amnesty for undocumented immigrants currently living in the US. He supports improving security at the Mexico-US border.[26]

LGBT

Calvert opposes same-sex marriage and stated, in 2008, "We can practice tolerance while still holding true to cultural values that protect the institution of marriage as a union between only a man and a woman."[26]

Marijuana

Calvert has a "C" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes. While in favor of further research into the use of medical marijuana, Calvert opposes veterans having access to medical marijuana if recommended by their Veterans Health Administration doctor and if it is legal for medicinal purposes in their state of residence.[27]

Tax reform

Calvert supports tax credits for prescription drugs and Medicare. He wants to eliminate estate and marriage taxes.[26]

Controversies

Real estate investments

Calvert's May 2005 financial disclosure statement showed that he owned eight parcels of land, most in Riverside County, as of December 31, 2004.[28] In 2005, Calvert and Harpole paid $550,000 for a 4.3-acre (17,000 m2) parcel just south of March Air Reserve Base. Calvert's real estate firm, where Calvert's brother, Quint, is the president,[29] and Halpole is vice president, received brokerage fees from the seller, Rod Smith of Greeley, Colorado, for representing both buyer and seller in the deal. Less than a year later, Calvert and Harpole sold the property for nearly $1 million. During the time he owned the land, Calvert used the earmarking process to secure $8 million in federal funds for a freeway interchange 16 miles (26 km) from the property, and an additional $1.5 million to support commercial development of the area around the base.

In early summer 2005, Harpole bought property with a group of investors at 20330 Temescal Canyon Road, a few blocks from the site of what was then a proposed interchange at Cajalco and I-15. The purchase price was $975,000. Within six months, after the bill passed that provided federal funding for the interchange, they sold the parcel for $1.45 million. Calvert's firm took a commission on the sale.[28]

On May 19, 2006, The Riverside Press-Enterprise, the sixth largest newspaper in California, editorialized that The Los Angeles Times got the facts wrong and in fact, there was no impropriety on the part of Calvert.[30] Calvert has stated that all requests for federal funding come from local entities.

Jurupa Community Services District

In the spring of 2006, Calvert and Harpole purchased 4 acres (16,000 m2) of land from Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD), a water and sewer district in northwestern Riverside County, for $1.2 million, along with five investment partners who jointly had a one-third interest. A newspaper investigation reported in August 2006 that the district apparently never first offered the land to other public agencies, a requirement of state law intended to provide more recreational land. The district's general manager said other agencies were notified, but representatives of those agencies said they received no such notice. The district could not provide evidence of the notification, saying relevant files had been misplaced.

The community services district did not advertise or list the land for sale, a practice required by counties and many other public agencies seeking top dollar on behalf of taxpayers. District general manager Carole McGreevy, who is stepping down from that position in late 2006 and retiring in late 2007, said the district proclaimed the land surplus in the early 1990s after it was no longer needed for flood control. The record of that decision was among the missing documents, as was the updated appraisal that McGreevy said was done in May 2005.

The Calvert partnership plans to build a mini-storage business.[29] In August 2008, the Jurupa Area Recreation and Parks District (JARPD) filed a lawsuit against JCSD, alleging fraud in the sale of the land. In August 2009, the FBI was looking into the lawsuit. A spokeswoman for Calvert said he had not been contacted by the FBI or a grand jury and did not believe that he was a focus of any investigation.[31]

The JCSD and JARPD reached a settlement to the dispute on October 7, 2010, and the agreement stated that Stadium Properties, of which Calvert is one-third silent partner, had no knowledge that the JCSD had not properly noticed the sale of land.[32]

Sex with known prostitute

In 1993, two Corona, California, police officers found Calvert with a prostitute in his car. Calvert told the police that he and the woman were "just talking". The Press-Enterprise later went to court to force the Corona police to release the police report.[33] After the report was released, Calvert admitted to having sex in his car with the woman, although the police did not have enough evidence to arrest him, as there was no witness to any exchange of money.[34][35][36]

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gollark: I don't actually have an install ISO for it, and it would use probably half the space on my SSD.
gollark: Please hold on while I run `pacman -Syu`.
gollark: Arch is the superior OS.
gollark: My laptop only runs arch.

See also

References
  1. "Kenneth Stanton "Ken" Calvert". RootsWeb.
  2. California Secretary of State, 2006 general election results Archived June 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Congress District 44. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
  3. California Secretary of State, 2008 general election results, U.S. Congress District 44. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  4. Ben Goad (November 28, 2008). "Calvert challenger in 44th Congressional District concedes defeat". The Press-Enterprise. Riverside. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  5. "California (44) House 2010". Sabato's Crystal Ball. University of Virginia Center for Politics. August 9, 2010. Bill Hedrick faces an uphill battle to defeat Ken Calvert....
  6. "Fund-Raising in the Most Competitive Races". The New York Times. July 16, 2010.
  7. Ben Goad (November 3, 2010). "HOUSE: Region's congressional incumbents complete clean sweep". The Press-Enterprise. Riverside. Archived from the original on November 7, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  8. David Wasserman and Julia Edwards (April 15, 2011). "Top 10 Republicans Most Vulnerable to Redistricting". Cook Political Report. National Journal. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
  9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2012. Retrieved 2014-10-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Actions – 111th Congress (2009 – 2010) – H.R.2788 - Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act
  11. Actions – 111th Congress (2009 – 2010) – H.Res.377 - Recognizing Armed Forces Day and the exemplary service of the members of the United States Armed Forces
  12. Bill Summary & Status – 111th Congress (2009 – 2010) – H.RES.1219 – THOMAS (Library of Congress)
  13. "Members". Republican Mains Street Partnership. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  14. Almukhtar, Sarah (December 19, 2017). "How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  15. "Riverside Co. Reps At Odds Over Trump's Tax Plan". Temecula, CA Patch. December 19, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  16. 1996 Congressional Quarterly Almanac
  17. Pub.L. 104–208: Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997
  18. H.R. 19: To require employers to conduct employment eligibility verification
  19. About CALFED
  20. H.R. 2828: Water Supply, Reliability, and Environmental Improvement Act
  21. Pub.L. 109–155: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005
  22. "Members". House Baltic Caucus. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  23. "Members". Congressional Western Caucus. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  24. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  25. "H.R. 330 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  26. "Ken Calvert - Candidate for U.S. President, Republican Nomination - Election 2012". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  27. "California Scorecard". NORML. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  28. Tom Hamburger, Lance Pugmire and Richard Simon, "Calvert's Land of Plenty: He has earmarked funds for Riverside County projects near properties he sold for a profit", Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2006 Archived July 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  29. David Danelski and Sandra Stokely, "Sale of park site draws questions" Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Press-Enterprise, August 17, 2006
  30. "False Alarm" (PDF). The Press Enterprise. editorial. Riverside. May 19, 2006.
  31. Susan Crabtree. "Calvert denies he's subject of FBI investigation". The Hill.
  32. Sandra Stokley; Ben Goad (October 8, 2010). "JURUPA: Lawsuit triggered by land deal settled". The Press Enterprise. Riverside. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010.
  33. Robinson, Jack. "Two years have brought Calvert crises, lessons". The Press-Enterprise (Riverside). November 3, 1994. p. B01.
  34. Tom Gorman, "Scandal Imperils Young Political Career : Politics: After months of denial, a Riverside congressman admits sexual relations with a known prostitute. 'I was feeling intensely lonely,' he says", Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1994
  35. Howie Klein, Contributor (December 6, 2017). "Rep. Ken Calvert Is an Embarrassment to California — Should He Step Down?". huffpost.com.
  36. JULIET EILPERIN (October 2006). "Running for Their Lives". theatlantic.com.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Ron Packard		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 43rd congressional district
1993–2003		 Succeeded by
Joe Baca
Preceded by
Mary Bono		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 44th congressional district
2003–2013		 Succeeded by
Janice Hahn
Preceded by
Gary Miller		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 42nd congressional district
2013–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Sanford Bishop		 United States Representatives by seniority
23rd		 Succeeded by
Jim Clyburn
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