Ken Calvert

Kenneth Stanton Calvert (born June 8, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 41st congressional district, and previously the 44th, 42nd, and 43rd, serving since 1993 as a member of the Republican Party. The district is part of the Inland Empire of Southern California. He chaired the Riverside County Republican Party from 1984 to 1988.

Calvert was born in Corona, California, to Marceline Hamblen and Ira D. Calvert Jr., and still lives in Corona. In 1970, he joined the congressional campaign of former state Assemblyman Victor Veysey. Calvert graduated from Corona High School in 1971. He worked in Veysey's Washington, D.C., office as an intern after Veysey was re-elected in 1972.

Calvert received an Associate of Arts degree in business from Chaffey Community College in 1973 and a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University in 1975. After college, he became a small business owner in the restaurant and real estate industries.

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 was the choice of the Republican establishment. McCandless won the general election.

Calvert was first elected to the US House in a new district in 1992, while McCandless was reelected in a different district. Calvert won the general election with 47% of the vote, defeating Democrat Mark Takano by 519 votes.

In 1994, he defeated Joe Khoury in the Republican primary, 51% to 49%. He was reelected in the 1994 general election with 55% of the vote, again defeating Takano.

In 1996, Calvert was reelected with 54% of the vote, defeating Democrat Guy Kimbrough.

In 1998 he defeated Democrat Mike Rayburn with 55% of the vote.

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. 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.

In December 2020, Calvert signed onto the lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case on December 11.

In January 2021, Calvert voted with six other Republican representatives from California to reject the certification of Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes. He questioned the results of the election, saying: "during difficult and divisive times in our nation I believe we must follow the Constitution. That's why today I lent my voice to the millions of Americans and my constituents who are deeply concerned by the integrity of the election ... I remain especially troubled by constitutionally questionable changes of voting rules in some states by authorities other than state legislatures."

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. The immigration reforms were later wrapped into the FY1997 Omnibus Appropriations Act. 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 is used by over 100,000 employers. 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.

In September 2023, Calvert criticized the Freedom Caucus for stalling annual Pentagon funding legislation. Calvert said "what's happening is the military is being held hostage to these procedural votes, so that can't happen."

Calvert is an Episcopalian. Calvert was previously married to Robin Calvert; they divorced in 1993.

Calvert's father committed suicide in 1993.