In southeast California, two Republican incumbents have found themselves in the rare position of attacking each other rather than competing against Democrats for a House seat, as voters prepare for the June 2 primary. The contest centers on whether Rep. Ken Calvert or Rep. Young Kim better fits the political standard of loyalty to President Donald Trump, and the campaigns have escalated with heavy negative advertising and mail.
Calvert, described by the Associated Press as the longest serving Republican in California’s House delegation, is running ads that label Kim a “traitor” to Trump and call her “a liberal and a liar.” Those spots also bring back earlier video clips in which Kim criticized Trump, according to the AP story. Calvert’s campaign message portrays Kim as having drifted away from Trump.
Kim, the other incumbent in the primary, has in response branded herself a “Trump Republican.” The AP reported that Kim’s ads accuse Calvert of “sabotaging President Trump’s agenda” and of only “serving himself,” while also making the case that Calvert has been in “lockstep with Nancy Pelosi.” The story said Kim previously emphasized her independence from the White House after stressing it, but the current campaign is framed around standing with Trump.
The advertising war has added to the sense that the race is not simply about normal intra-party competition. The AP described the tone as acidic and said the negative messaging is running in heavy media rotation from two House members who had previously been friendly colleagues. In the view of the article, the attacks underline how high the stakes are in a GOP contest that neither candidate sought.
The AP placed the primary in a broader political timeline: it is the first election since Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed to redraw California’s congressional map amid a national redistricting fight aimed at Democrats winning more seats in the House. The article said the new district map—relevant southeast of Los Angeles and including parts of inland Riverside and Orange counties—has shaken the Republican ranks, changing who has to run and against whom.
The conflict is also framed as part of how the Republican field is adapting to Trump’s influence. The AP said Trump’s approval has slipped amid the war in Iran and climbing consumer prices, while national Democrats have been encouraged by election results ahead of the midterms. At the same time, the AP reported that Trump has reinforced his clout with the political process by ousting incumbents who, in the article’s account, ran afoul of the White House.
In a sign of the mixed reactions the campaigns are generating, the AP reported that retiree and Trump supporter Mike Rutland, speaking at a weekend barbecue hosted by conservative activists in Calvert’s hometown of Corona, said he remained undecided amid negative advertising from both sides. Rutland said, “I want my state back,” and he characterized the primary as a fight against “RINOs,” an acronym used by conservatives to mean “Republicans in name only.”
The AP also described how the national political landscape is driving the redistricting and primaries. The article said more states have maneuvered to redraw districts for partisan advantage following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and provided grounds for states to try to remove districts with large minority populations. In California, the AP said the stakes are heightened because the district’s Republican-leaning nature could affect the outcome that determines House control.
For Calvert and Kim, the path after the primary depends on who earns the most votes. The AP reported that California law permits the top two vote-getters—regardless of party—to advance to the general election, and it noted that there are Democrats and an independent on the ballot. The article said it is possible that only the two Republicans could advance given the district’s nearly 9-point GOP voter registration edge, setting up a potential one-on-one rematch in November.
The AP story added more detail on the specific attacks beginning in the campaign. It said voters have been getting mail from Kim’s campaign alleging that Calvert voted to “force taxpayers to fund sex change operations for children,” and it reported that Calvert’s camp says the allegation is fiction. It also said Calvert’s campaign points to Kim’s support for a resolution to censure Trump over his role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, calling her a “Trump betrayer.”
At the barbecue lunch, Calvert told the AP he was not trying to personalize the fight, saying, “I’m not personalizing it. I’m just pointing out somebody’s record.” Calvert, first elected to Congress in 1992, is described by the AP as representing territory that makes up more than half of the redrawn district and sitting on the powerful Appropriations Committee.
The AP also described Kim’s background and her shift in messaging toward Trump. It said Kim was born in South Korea, grew up in Guam, and came to California for college, later becoming a small-business owner before winning elections to the state Assembly and then Congress. The article reported that when she ran for the House in 2018, she emphasized independence from Trump’s White House on issues like trade, and it quoted her at the time saying, “I’m a different kind of candidate.” Now, the AP said, Kim has vowed on her website to “stand with President Trump,” adding the quote, “The great American comeback depends on it.”