Congressman Ken Calvert says Dems can't beat him in elections, so they've turned to redistricting

TEMECULA, Calif. (KABC) -- Republican Congressman Ken Calvert represents California's 41st Congressional District in the Inland Empire, extending from Corona all the way to Palm Springs.

If voters approve the new redistricting map this November, that district would look completely different, moving to Los Angeles County.

"The district that I have ceases to exist," said Calvert. "So they can't beat me in an election process, so they've decided to just eliminate the entire congressional district as it exists today."

Calvert has been in congress for 33 years and is no stranger to redistricting.

He said he supports California's Independent Redistricting Commission and is concerned that although Democrats say this mid-decade re-draw will be temporary until the 2030 Census, he doesn't buy it.

"Voters are not going to give up the authorities they have, and that's the commission, and the commission takes away the power from politicians," said Calvert.

The new maps give Calvert's current district to other Republicans in congress, Young Kim and Darrell Issa. If the map passes, Calvert could run against them.

Paul Mitchell with Redistricting Partners helped draw the new map.

"The seat that we've now moved down the southeast cities of L.A. is probably not really going to be amenable to his politics," said Mitchell. "If he or other Republican members of Congress didn't want this to happen, they could have gone to the White House. They could have gone to the White House and insisted that the president stop trying to push Texas to change the rules in the middle of the game and to do this aggressive gerrymandering."

Ballots for the November 4 special election on redistricting will be mailed out on October 6.