Prominent GOP candidates face off in California's 40th Congressional District primary
Southern California voters will be deciding which top two vote-getters will advance to the November general election for California's 40th Congressional District.
The contentious race will knock at least one prominent state Republican out of Congress, as the candidates hope to take control over the newly drawn congressional district following the approval of Proposition 50.
Rep. Young Kim is facing seven challengers, including her colleague and longtime Rep. Ken Calvert, in her quest to be reelected to represent the newly redrawn 40th Congressional District, which spans parts of Orange County and the Inland Empire.
The race pitted the two Republicans against each other with the new district map combining parts of Kim and Calvert's current districts after voters in 2025 in California passed Proposition 50. The measure was backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats in an effort to shift five districts to be more favorable to Democrats in the midterm elections this year. The measure was intended to counter a move by Texas Republicans to redraw their state's congressional districts to create five GOP-leaning seats.
The new 40th Congressional district splits Corona in half and spans from the easternmost cities of Orange County, like Villa Park and Mission Viejo, across the Inland Empire to Murrieta and Menifee.
Shortly after voters passed Proposition 50, Calvert, who currently represents California's 41st Congressional District, announced his campaign. Based on the new map, District 41 is now largely based in Los Angeles County.
A Corona native, Calvert has been in Congress for more than 30 years. He has previously represented the 42nd, 43rd and 44th congressional districts. He was elected in 1992.
Hours after Calvert's announcement, Kim launched her reelection campaign.
Kim, of Anaheim Hills, was elected to the 40th Congressional District in 2023. She previously represented the 39th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023 and served in the Assembly from 2014 to 2016. Kim is one of the first Korean American women to serve in Congress.
Kim and Calvert have traded several jabs on the campaign trail, calling into question each other's support and work with President Trump. Both are known for their support for immigration reform and Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," which allocated nearly $47 million for the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Other candidates in the race include Democrats Joseph Kerr, a retired firefighter who ran against Kim in 2024; Esther Kim Varet, an art gallery owner and political newcomer; Lisa Ramirez, an immigration attorney and Southern California native; and Claude Keissieh, a U.S. Army veteran who previously worked with the California Department of Corrections and currently works with Caltrans. Nonprofit organization director Nina Linh is also running as a no-party-preference candidate.