Endorsement District 41: In the U.S. House, Will Rollins would be the best rep for valley

In California’s 41st Congressional District election, the two candidates — Republican Ken Calvert and Democrat Will Rollins — seem to agree on one thing, and one thing only: Voters have a stark choice on Nov. 8. 

After interviewing both men and reviewing their records and platforms, we concur, and the best choice is Rollins.

Calvert has been representing parts of the Inland Empire in Congress for three decades. Due to recent redrawing of district boundaries, District 41 has shifted east to include Palm Springs, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and Indian Wells.  

We don’t take this endorsement lightly. Calvert has sponsored important legislation, including the e-Verify system and many bills related to water in California. He worked to keep March Air Force Base from closing, protecting local jobs. He’s an experienced legislator, and seniority in Congress often is directly correlated with getting things done for folks back home. Rollins, like any freshman member of Congress, will have a steep learning curve.

But we believe Rollins, a former federal prosecutor and federal court law clerk who is thoughtful and well-informed, is more than up to the task. Moreover, Rollins’ outlook is more modern, more nuanced, more moderate and more aligned with the outlook of this recently diversified district, particularly voters in the Coachella Valley. 

Although Calvert is a lifelong Riverside County resident, Rollins demonstrates an impressive familiarity with Coachella Valley priorities – such as improved rail connectivity, east valley water infrastructure, a four-year university and solutions for the Salton Sea. 

MORE: How The Desert Sun Editorial Board and endorsement process works   

When asked about the Salton Sea, Calvert noted that he’s a former chair of the Salton Sea Authority, and the No. 2 minority member of the water and energy subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.  “Makeup water and a drain, that’s the long-term solution,” Calvert told us when asked what the Salton Sea needs. “I’m second ranking on energy and water appropriations. I’m the guy who can … get this thing done.”

Yet if that’s true, why hasn’t Calvert “gotten this thing done” already? After all, Calvert was heavily involved in the Quantification Settlement Agreement 20 years ago that began the acceleration of the Salton Sea’s shrinkage and attendant rise in salinity. 

On the immigration front, even as our tourism and agriculture operations struggle for workers, Calvert says the U.S. will need to “automate” and “use labor smarter.” He says he’s in favor of a “workable” guest worker program, but again, Calvert has had many years to get something done on that front and offered few specifics. Meanwhile, he’s still pushing the Trump border wall. 

Rollins, on the other hand, understands that instead of a “dumb wall,” real investments in smart technology and our border patrol and immigration court system would do more to secure the southern border — in addition to a long-term, clear path to citizenship and a guest worker program.  

More broadly, Rollins seems to have a sophisticated knowledge of technology and where it is leading us — positively and negatively — as a society. We believe his understanding of Big Tech, social media and the threat players like China and Russia pose in terms of cyberterrorism and disinformation, would make him an informed legislator on such critical topics, where the law is struggling to keep pace with innovation.    

At the same time, Calvert’s positions on multiple issues, from gun control to climate change, seem retrograde and a bit out of touch. For example, he refused to support the bipartisan red-flag gun bill passed by Congress after the tragic school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and says such shootings are a “culture issue.” 

We trust Rollins will speak out for and defend equal rights for LGBTQ+ Americans, a topic Calvert has been, at best, mum on throughout his career and one that is vitally important to so many in our valley. 

We also believe Rollins is more mainstream when it comes to reproductive rights. Although Calvert now says he supports making abortion available in the case of rape and incest and threats to a mother’s life, he joined 125 other House Republicans in signing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now that the court has acted as Calvert wanted, many women who are impregnated through rape or incest have nowhere to turn.

Calvert comes across as a congenial fellow, and likes to tout his experience working with Democrats like Sen. Dianne Feinstein on infrastructure and other issues. But his positions on most topics sit far to the right, and he says unequivocally that his mission is to “defeat the Biden agenda.” That kind of intransigence is not what our extremely divided country needs right now. 

While Rollins is clearly liberal, he has worked across the aisle, serving in the administration of Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was governor of California. We expect Rollins will pragmatically look for allies outside his own party to get things done where he can.  

Calvert participated alongside Rollins in an endorsement interview with the Desert Sun Editorial Board, but he refused to partake in a similar interview with the L.A. Times and turned down an invitation from The Desert Sun for a televised debate with Rollins. We wonder why, if he’s so proud of his accomplishments, he has been reluctant to defend them in a public forum. 

That’s a shame, because it would have given voters here in the Coachella Valley a chance to become more familiar with his record, and judge for themselves whether they wanted to support him.   

Electing someone just because they’ve been in Congress a long time is not a good reason to keep doing so. If elected, Rollins would be just about as old as Calvert was when he started representing Riverside County in Congress in 1992. 

District 41 has changed, and it’s time for a change in who represents it. Will Rollins is our choice for District 41. 

To learn more about The Desert Sun Editorial Board and how the endorsement process is conducted, visit desertsun.com/opinion.