Report: Young Kim raising more money than Ken Calvert in race for California's 40th Congressional District

Kaitlyn Schallhorn, The Orange County Register on Jul 17, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The latest political fundraising reports are out in California, and the campaigns for Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim — two Republicans hoping to win the redrawn 40th Congressional District seat — struck triumphant tones when talking about their latest hauls.

Kim’s camp said she outraised her opponent during the three-month window that ended June 30, bringing in $1.87 million, more than double Calvert’s $900,000.

That leaves Kim with nearly $1.7 million in her war chest. Calvert, after his latest fundraising effort, has about $1.5 million in cash on hand.

The campaign leading into the June 2 primary was bitter and volatile, with the Republican incumbents focusing their attacks on each other. Now, with the amounts of money both have to spend — not to mention how much their respective PACs have at the ready — voters in the district can expect a general election campaign that’s even louder and more acrimonious.

As a reminder, California’s midcycle redistricting redrew the 40th Congressional District, with an eye toward making it super GOP-centric.

Democrats in California, following the lead of Republicans in Texas, redesigned congressional districts statewide to give their party an advantage in more seats. In the 40th Congressional District — which touches parts of Orange and Riverside counties, and where nearly 40% of voters are registered as Republicans, 31% as Democrats and 21% have no party preference — the gerrymandering has left two incumbent Republicans, Kim and Calvert, battling for a single seat in Congress.

Those high stakes led to negative and personal ads during the primary campaign, from the campaigns and outside groups. Calvert and Kim each claimed to have President Donald Trump’s back, and each accused the other of being secretly liberal or not close enough to Trump’s MAGA base.

Despite a handful of Democrats also running in the primary, including art dealer Esther Kim-Varet, who came in third place, Calvert and Kim took the top two spots in the June 2 contest.

In announcing their second-quarter fundraising numbers, both campaigns expressed optimism about what their hauls mean for the November election.

“Calvert enters general election in dominant position,” said in a July 15 news release from the Corona congressman’s camp.

“Our campaign enters the general election with momentum, resources, and most importantly, the trust of the voters in the 40th District on our side,” Calvert’s campaign said. “Despite being outspent nearly 2-to-1, we won the primary by a decisive 14 points and head into November in better shape than ever.”

In the June 2 primary, Calvert took 34.9% of the vote, versus Kim’s 20.6%. But the other six candidates, led by Kim-Varet’s 16% share, were Democrats or no party preference, indicating that non-Republican voters will have a key say in who will represent them.

A news release from Kim’s campaign offered a simple boast about her second quarter numbers: “Kim tops opponent again.”

“Our campaign continues to build incredible momentum in the general election because voters are responding to our message that it is time for a new generation of effective leadership,” Kim said in a statement.

Kim, 63, has been in office since 2021. Calvert, 73, was first elected to Congress in 1992.

The second quarter numbers are a snapshot. Kim’s report with the Federal Election Commission shows that, overall, her campaign has spent nearly $9.3 million to date this election cycle. Calvert, in comparison, has spent about $5 million.

So, with less than 16 weeks before the Nov. 3 election, what does all this mean?

Voters can expect to see more TV ads the closer it gets to October, when ballots are sent to registered voters — probably even more than what they endured during the primary, said Dan Schnur, who teaches political messaging at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley.

“The two campaigns have barely scratched the surface on campaign spending,” Schnur said.

“Even though Kim has been raising money at a greater rate, she’s going to need to accelerate considerably. And the pressure on Calvert to stay close to her is going to grow just as quickly,” he added.

Gubernatorial candidates may not be on the air quite as much in the fall as progressive environmentalist Tom Steyer was in the spring, Schnur said. But voters in and around the 40th Congressional District can expect Calvert and Kim to more than make up for that.