Кеннет Калверт: Американ саяхатшысы және республикалық саяси қайраткері

American politician (born 1953)

Kenneth Stanton Calvert (born June 8, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U. S. representative for , and previously the 44th, 42nd, and 43rd, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is part of the Inland Empire of Southern California.

Calvert was born in Corona, California, to Marceline Hamblen and Ira D. Calvert Jr., and still lives in Corona. In 1970, shortly after high school, he joined the congressional campaign of former state Assemblyman Victor Veysey. Calvert worked in Veysey's Washington, D. C., office as an intern after a 1972 victory. He graduated from Corona High School in 1971. Calvert received an Associate of Arts degree from Chaffey Community College in 1973 and a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University in 1975. After graduation, he managed his family's restaurant in Corona, the Jolly Fox, for five years. He then entered the real estate industry and ran Ken Calvert Real Properties until he was elected to Congress.

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. From 1984 to 1988, Calvert chaired the Riverside County Republican Party. Calvert was first elected to the 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. Calvert won again in 2000 with 74% of the vote, facing no major party opposition. Calvert was reelected in 2002, defeating college administrator Louis Vandenberg with 64% of the vote. He defeated Vandenberg again in 2004 with 61% of the vote, and in 2006 with 60% of the vote. In 2008, Calvert had a surprisingly close race, defeating Democratic nominee Bill Hedrick with 52% of the vote. He declared victory immediately, but Hedrick waited three weeks before conceding, due to unusually high turnout prolonging the vote counting process. In 2010, Hedrick ran against Calvert again. While most pundits, such as Larry Sabato, expected him to lose again, sources such as The New York Times ranked the race more competitive. The New York Times re ranked this race from solid Republican to leaning Republican. Calvert won by ten percentage points. The National Journals Cook Political Report named Calvert one of the top 10 Republicans most vulnerable to redistricting in 2012, largely due to his district's rapidly growing Hispanic population. Despite this, Calvert defeated opponent Michael Williamson with 61% of the vote. In 2022, Calvert sought reelection in California's 41st congressional district due to redistricting. He defeated Democrat Will Rollins in the November 2022 general election.

Of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Calvert said it "shifts the power to set abortion policies to Congress and to the States". On July 19, 2022, Calvert and 46 other Republican U. S. representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same sex marriage in federal law. In September 2023, Calvert criticized far right Republicans 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."

In 1993, two Corona, California, police officers found Calvert with a prostitute in his car. He told the police that he and the woman were "just talking". The Press Enterprise later went to court to force the Corona police to release the police report. After the report was released, Calvert admitted to having sex with the woman in his car; the police did not have enough evidence to arrest him, as there was no witness to any exchange of money.