IE's 41st Congressional District race sees rematch between Ken Calvert and Will Rollins

CORONA, Calif. (KABC) -- It's political déjà vu all over again in cities like Corona, Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Palm Springs, all part of California's Congressional District 41.

"Are you feeling fired up. Are you ready to fire Ken Calvert?" said Democrat Will Rollins.

Rollins' campaign to defeat Republican Rep. Ken Calvert is in its third year after coming up short in the 2022 midterms. But Rollins says this time around feels different.

"I represent change," said Rollins. "We've had 32 years of this guy and we need new blood in Washington, D.C., in both parties. But that's never going to happen if we keep sending the same people back there who have been in Congress since I was 8 years old."

ABC7 caught up with Rollins at a campaign event in Corona the same day House Speaker Mike Johnson was in the Inland Empire campaigning for Calvert. It's a sign of how competitive the race is and how important the seat is to who controls the House of Representatives. Both candidates have raised millions, the most Calvert says he's ever raised and money is pouring in from outside the district.

In 2022, Calvert defeated Rollins by 11,000 votes, but in that election Rollins was an unknown. Now he has name recognition and he could also be helped by the fact that, traditionally, more people vote when a presidential election is on the ballot.

"His campaign is the same basic theme: that I'm corrupt and that I've been around too long and that there needs to be a change, except it's on steroids," said Calvert. "On a lot of money advertising the same thing. I was a business guy and they've been running against me on these same things a long time. But I know he wants to raise taxed on small businesses and gas tax."

"My opponent voted against the largest bipartisan infrastructure bill in the history of the United States -- $300 million in funding coming to Riverside County as a result of that bill," said Rollins. "Instead he's bringing the speaker of the House, a guy that co-sponsored a national abortion ban -- that what Ken Calvert supports. (He) backed a national ban with no exceptions, has voted to punish doctors and nurses for providing reproductive health care to women, and that doesn't represent the 21st century."

ABC7 interviewed Calvert at an event in Lake Elsinore where he received the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Calvert believes the No. 1 issue in the race is the economy and that his party is stronger on that issue.

"People are paying too much for groceries, too much for gas, too much for their insurance, too much for their utilities," said Calvert. "We need to turn this economy around."