I-Team: ‘Money in Politics’ in the 41st Congressional District
A local congressional race may help determine control of Congress and both candidates are raising millions of dollars.
News Channel 3's John White is taking an I-Team look at "Money in Politics" in the 41st Congressional District.
With only 109 days left in the race, we asked Republican Rep. Ken Calvert and his Democratic Challenger Will Rollins about the money they've raised, what it means for the race, and how last weekend's assassination attempt may change the tone of the race.
As we near the end of the second quarter, the democratic challenger Will Rollins is taking the lead in the race-- at least when it comes to money.
"People know this is going to be one of the closest house races in the entire country that's going to decide the house majority," commented Rollins.
Currently, Rollins has over $7 million raised, with about $4.7 million in cash on hand. Calvert has over $5.7 million raised, and $3.6 million in cash on hand.
We talked with republican incumbent Ken Calvert from this week's Republican National Convention to gage how he is feeling about his current standing in the election.
"I'm not worried about that, you know we continue to raise what you know, what we budgeted for, and we're gonna be able to have enough resources to get our message out," said Calvert.
To break down the 41st Congressional District Election, we also talked with Brendan Galvin from Open Secrets nonprofit.
John: "There are only a handful of races that end up this kind of competitive, right?"
Brendan: "You know, [it] varies from cycle to cycle, but a small amount of them get in this very narrow category, which generally people call toss ups."
John: "So, if we're at close to 13 million now, how high could this go?"
Brendan: "Could definitely like I said, with the last year, we had over $30 million was the top house race for candidate money,"
Much of the funds raised will be used for TV ads and broadcasting.
Typically, the more expensive a race gets, the more negative it turns.
In the wake of last week's assassination attempt against former President & current 2024 Presidential candidate Donald Trump, we asked both candidates about the overall tone of the House race.
"One of the things we've learned with this assassination attempt is rhetoric and personal attacks are not healthy for the political system in this country," Calvert responded.
"It's incumbent upon all of us who are running for office to say that loudly and clearly and to take the temperature down to make it clear that we can disagree and still be civil- that you can love your neighbor even if they vote for Joe Biden or Donald Trump, or Ken Calvert or Will Rollins," commented Rollins.
Rollins believes that he has a better shot this time around because the voter turn-out will be higher.
In 2022, Calvert beat Rollins by 4.7 points, a little over 11,000 votes. Voter turnout was just 46% in Riverside County in 2022.
In the last presidential election in 2020, voter turnout in Riverside County was nearly 82%.
"I think historically, you just look back at this district, and every year, no matter who's been running the turnout increases close to 50% in Riverside County in the presidential elections," said Rollins.
In 2022, the candidates did not debate. It still remains up in the air whether the candidates will meet face to face for this year's House election.
When asked if the two candidates will meet face to face, Calvert responded saying, "Maybe, I mean, we'll see how he handles himself."
Meanwhile, Rollins responded to the question of whether there is going to be a debate by saying, "Any time and place, and I hope voters get to see a lot of them from us, because that's what politics really should all be about- and that's what this country is about, civil disagreement between people who may have a spirited campaign."
The election is 109 days away, taking place on November 5th.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing "Your Vote 2024" coverage on this race and all of your local elections.
