
Teacher enters crowded race to topple Rep. Ken Calvert, with Barbara Boxer's blessing
Katherine Aleman, an Inland Empire public-school teacher and part-time chicken farmer, is the latest Democrat to join a crowded field of challengers hoping to unseat 41st Congressional District Rep. Ken Calvert, the longest-serving Republican in California's congressional delegation.
The race against Calvert, who for more than 30 years has represented Riverside County, will be one of the most closely watched in the nation as Democrats push to retake control of the U.S. House in 2026. The congressman, a Trump loyalist, has been a perpetual white whale for Democrats despite his controversial votes to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
This time, Democratic insiders are bullish that Aleman – a mother of four sons who teaches middle school in Corona – will be the one to break their cycle of losses.
Aleman is leaning into her background as a working parent and lifelong Inland Empire resident as she works to make affordability her primary message. Along with cost of living, she said veterans' issues and education are important to her as the daughter of a Marine helicopter pilot and an elementary school principal.
'Folks deserve someone who has walked in their shoes, who's had to balance a household budget, who's struggled,' Aleman told CalMatters. 'We have a congressman who really has only been serving himself and his friends.'
Calvert will not be an easy target. This past quarter he outraised all of his Democratic challengers combined, pulling in more than $1.3 million in contributions and bringing his stockpile of cash on hand to an eye-popping $2.5 million.
'This massive fundraising haul shows just how energized voters are to keep him in Congress,' Christian Martinez, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee wrote in a statement when the fundraising numbers were released earlier this month.
The W-shaped district spans from working-class towns like Corona and El Cerrito in the west to wealthier Coachella Valley cities like Palm Springs in the east. Aleman's fluency in Spanish, which she refined during two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, is an asset in a district where nearly 40% of the population is Hispanic.
Aleman's supporters, who include former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, say her deep roots on the western side of the district – where more than 70% of the population is – differentiate her from her competitors. That background also sets her apart from Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor who lost to Calvert twice and whose campaign Boxer vigorously supported.
Former U.S. Sen Barbara Boxer is a fan
'She's an undiscovered star,' said Boxer, who sought to support a female candidate from the western side of the district. 'I've been around a long time, and I never say that.'
Boxer, a 24-year veteran of Capitol Hill who, alongside former Sen. Dianne Feinstein, won election to the Senate in 1992's 'Year of the Woman,' pointed to Aleman's successful 2020 campaign for Norco City Council as proof that she can win Republican votes. Aleman, the council's lone Democrat, won despite a nearly 30% Republican voter registration advantage, but lost her reelection bid last November.
When the two women met for lunch a month ago, Boxer said she was immediately impressed with Aleman's straightforward assessment of her district's top issue – affordability.
'She said, 'Senator, people can't afford to live here anymore, and I grew up here.' And I just saw the authenticity of her,' Boxer said of Aleman. 'She fits so well into what we're looking for,' Boxer added, 'someone who has lived the lives of her constituents.'
This time, Calvert has attracted at least eight other Democratic challengers. Among them are Brandon Riker, an entrepreneur who ran for lieutenant governor of Vermont in 2016, and Anuj Dixit, a voting rights attorney who was born and raised in Riverside County. Tim Myers, the bassist for the band OneRepublic, has already bowed out and announced he will instead run for lieutenant governor.
'Katherine is exactly the type of candidate the Democratic Party needs,' said Orrin Evans, a media strategist working on Aleman's campaign launch. His has helped Democratic candidates such as Rep. Derek Tran defeat incumbent Republicans in tough races.
Evans said the takeaway from the 2024 election should be the importance of candidate quality, and that a 'homegrown leader' like Aleman would gain the most traction.
'Katherine's not from Hollywood or Vermont,' he said. 'She's from the Inland Empire.'
In addition to teaching, Aleman raises chickens and sells eggs at a family farm stand. What began as a side project during the pandemic to provide eggs for her family has grown into a small business known as 'Fluffy Butt Ranch.' The additional income helps cushion the family budget.
She also runs a chicken club at her school, which provides extra food security for students in the form of farm-fresh eggs.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Who is challenging Ken Calvert for Congress
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Politico
20 minutes ago
- Politico
Josh Shapiro joins Mamdani pile-on, saying candidate failed to condemn antisemitic rhetoric
The remarks from Shapiro, who is considered a likely Democratic candidate for president in 2028, are the latest sign that Mamdani still has work to do to win over some of the prominent figures in the party as he runs to unseat New York Mayor Eric Adams. Some Democrats have been hesitant to fully embrace the nominee, with elected officials from battleground districts distancing themselves from his campaign's anti-Israel rhetoric. He met with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday but has still yet to secure his endorsement. Mamdani faces opposition for his advocacy of economic plans he describes as socialist, including free buses and city-run grocery stores. He's also faced attacks for his refusal to condemn use of the phrase 'gloablize the intifada' by anti-Israel protesters — a Palestinian resistance slogan regarded by some as a call to violence against Jews. Shapiro had some faint words of praise for Mamdani: 'He seemed to run a campaign that excited New Yorkers,' the governor said, before discussing his criticism of the candidate's refusal to condemn inflammatory rhetoric about Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. 'He also seemed to run a campaign where he left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things,' Shapiro said. Republicans have sought to brand the mayoral candidate as their new Democratic boogeyman while members of his own party are still weighing what lessons to take away from the 33-year-old democratic socialist's upset primary win. The New York race is also rippling through next year's midterm elections and the lead-up to the presidential campaign, with figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — both seen as likely 2028 contenders — saying the party should consider Mamdani's affordability-focused messaging.


CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
Manteca residents weigh in on police staffing in community focus group
One per 1,000 — that's the so-called "standard" of how many police officers are needed per 1,000 residents. In Manteca, the police department is trying to change that standard by becoming more efficient. "We're doing a data-driven analysis of our actual numbers, crunching them to see how many officers we actually need for patrol to adequately protect this community," Manteca Police Chief Stephen Schluer said. The Manteca Police Department has 83 officers, with 44 on patrol. On Wednesday, they held a community focus group asking the public to weigh in on what they consider safe staffing levels within the department. "I think our police department has matured, improved a great deal over the last four to eight years," Manteca resident Judy Blumhorst shared. "I think we've turned over. We're using our resources better and we're also able to fund things a little better." The group also discussed topics like overall safety within the city and what residents like and don't like about the department, all to help shape its future and how the city uses its Measure Q sales tax money over the next 20 years. "A lot of it is towards public safety," Blumhorst continued. "This is supposed to be dedicated to public safety, and there is a commission of citizens who are supposed to review and make a report every year. We have no legislative power, but we do have oversight pulpit." This community meeting regarding police staffing has been years in the making. While present at the beginning, the police chief stepped out of the meeting for a reason. "I wanted to be them to be able to speak freely without having police representatives there and get their honest input because that's what we need," Chief Schluer explained. "We need honest input from the public." The last time Manteca police asked for public input like this was more than a decade ago. With residents and the police department coming together, they hope to build a more effective and transparent relationship.


Axios
43 minutes ago
- Axios
Senate Democrats buoyed by Cooper's decision to run
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) landed his top 2026 recruit in former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, giving Democrats some midsummer hope they can steal a GOP Senate seat next year. Why it matters: Democrats have their candidate. Republicans are still looking for theirs. Both sides will have plenty of money. "It's always the most expensive race in U.S. history. It will be again," Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said at an Axios Live event on Wednesday. But the outgoing senator has some frank advice for his party after its 2024 gubernatorial candidate, Mark Robinson, ran a disastrous campaign. "Let that embarrassment be a lesson to the base who didn't understand" that Robinson could not win in a general election, Tillis said. Driving the news: Cooper is expected to make a formal announcement Monday, but the news, which Axios scooped Wednesday afternoon, ricocheted across town. For a party that has been rolled on policy all year, Democrats are heading into August hopeful that the politics may be cutting in their direction. The other side: Republicans are still waiting for their top nominee to emerge, with all eyes on the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump. Tillis declined to say whether he would be willing to campaign with Lara Trump but stressed the importance of choosing a candidate who can appeal to the swing voters or "we're going to have a tough time." The ability to raise money will also be a factor: "You have to have a national fundraising platform that's going to match up against the Democrats, who invariably raise — it's usually about a 60-40 split," Tillis said. What they are saying:"Roy Cooper is about to join a very long list of Democrat governors who tried and failed to be elected to the United States Senate," NRSC spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez told Axios in a statement. "Chuck Schumer might be celebrating, but North Carolinians are still reeling from Roy Cooper's botched response to Hurricane Helene," Alex Latcham, executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, said in a statement. SLF is expected to spend massive amounts on the race. Go deeper: The 2026 Senate map appears relatively small and will likely include just a handful of truly competitive races.