The 2024 Congressional Election ended only five months ago. Yet news about 2026 candidates for California’s Congressional District 41 seat (including all the Hill communities) was announced last week.
Incumbent Congressman Ken Calvert said he has already raised $1.3 million for the 2026 race. In 2024, when he defeated Democrat Will Rollins for the second time, Calvert spent nearly $7.9 million.
According to his press release, this was “. . . the most expensive Congressional race ever won by a Republican in California.”
“The Calvert campaign has not skipped a beat in raising the resources necessary to communicate with voters in the 41st Congressional District,” said Calvert campaign spokesman Jason Gagnon in the press release. “Ken Calvert has demonstrated time and time again that he’s an effective advocate for Riverside County in the House of Representatives, and he is a candidate who can win some of the most hotly contested Congressional races in the county.
According to the Press-Enterprise, Rollins has already announced that he will not pursue a third campaign against Calvert. But the Democratic field is already attracting candidates. On April 7, Coachella Valley resident Brandon Riker announced that he would challenge Calvert.
“I am running for Congress because the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley deserve a representative who isn’t afraid to fight for practical solutions so that California families can pay for housing, food, and health care while still having money to save for retirement. Ensuring economic opportunity and security should not be a partisan issue – it’s who we are as Americans.”
While a fourth-generation Californian and successful business entrepreneur, Riker unsuccessfully sought to be Vermont’s Lt. Governor in 2016.
“I’ll focus on reducing the cost of living, creating more pathways to home ownership, expanding job training and apprenticeships, and protecting our health care and retirement programs — Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security — from devastating cuts,” Riker said.
One day after entering the race, Riker announced that he had raised more than $250,000, all from individual donors.
