Republicans and Democrats split a pair of close congressional races in California on Monday, with incumbent Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) defeating Democrat challenger Will Rollins in the 41st district, and incumbent Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) losing to Democrat challenger George Whitesides in the 27th.
Calvert, a 32-year veteran of the House of Representatives, faced an unusually tough challenge from Rollins, who accused Calvert of using his time in Congress to acquire local rental property in Riverside County, part of the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles.
President-elect Donald Trump boosted Calvert’s campaign with a rally in the nearby Coachella Valley in October that had political pundits scratching their heads, since California is a reliably blue state. Trump’s gambit turns out to have paid off, with Calvert winning reelection after a very close race.
Garcia, a former fighter…
