Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) picked up a valuable endorsement Tuesday in his incumbent-on-incumbent primary from a rising Republican star.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) endorsed Calvert over Rep. Young Kim (R-CA), he told Breitbart News exclusively.
“It comes down to two things,” Gill explained to Breitbart. “One is that Ken Calvert is a huge defender and supporter of the president. And number two, he’s got a fantastic record on immigration, which I think is the most important issue that we have in front of us today.”
Calvert and Kim are running in California’s 40th Congressional District after mid-decade redistricting further gerrymandered California’s district lines, which already provided a gross advantage to Congressional Democrats far beyond the party’s proportion of the vote in the state.
Gill cited Kim’s cosponsorship of a resolution to censure President Donald Trump in 2021 to make his case.
Kim said at the time that Trump should have “consequences” and that he “should be held accountable,” saying he “gravely endangered the security of the United States” and “betrayed his trust as President,” while pushing to censure and condemn him.
Gill also pointed out that Kim is an original cosponsor of the Dignidad Act, a mass amnesty bill — notably with a non-English title — pushed by pro-migration Republicans.
The Dignidad Act, introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL), is a boon to corporations starving for cheap labor and a hammer blow to American workers, Breitbart’s Neil Munro reported:
Salazar’s bill provides work permits to at least 12 million illegal migrants. That flood of legalized migrants would slash wages, goose profits, and expand the Gross Domestic Product number — all of which is desired by investors on Wall Street and by boomer retirees in suburbia.
But her bill also shrinks the per-person income needed by ordinary Americans, destroys opportunities for young Americans, and also shrivels the incentive for companies to raise productivity — even as China invests in high-tech production, autos, and robots.
The bill would also expand the huge foreign inflows into the white-collar jobs needed by hard-pressed U.S. college graduates, said an account titled “Barefoot Student.” It added, “Young Americans are on their own. Battle lines drawn.”
Her bill revives President George W. Bush’s “Any Willing Worker” migrant pipelines for the employers who do not want to pay Americans enough to cover their rents, pay for their kids, or lead a dignified and prosperous life.
Migrants will flood the labor market and drive up housing costs and welfare costs for Americans, radio host Dennis Michael Lynch told Salazar.
“That’s their responsibility, not mine,” Salazar responded. “That’s the average American person problem,” she added.
Voters in the district will see that clear contrast between the two candidates, Gill believes.
“This is a conservative district, and this is a district where I think voters are looking for somebody who’s going to stand with President Trump across the board, but especially on immigration policy,” he said.
“The reality is that Ken Calvert has been on the front lines fighting for sane immigration policies and for border security for a long time,” Gill added. “I mean, he was one of the main congressional architects of E-verify, which is the single most important, I believe, border security policy we could pursue, other than a border wall.”
The behind-the-scenes Calvert is not seen in Washington as one of Trump’s most ardent public defenders on immigration. But Gill said Calvert’s record as “a proponent of border security” for “decades” is evident in his A rating from NumbersUSA.
Gill added that Calvert’s effectiveness extends beyond his immigration record into other issues that matter for the country and in his district.
“He’s the real deal. He is a genuinely brilliant guy when it comes to the defense sector,” Gill explained. “He’s chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He knows that inside and out, knows all of the intricacies and nuances of it, but he’s here for the cause. He’s in Washington for the right reasons, and again, that’s to support the president and secure the border.”
Gill previously endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the contentious primary runoff against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, making his announcement in Breitbart News.
“The Ken Paxton race was similar to this one, in that both John Cornyn and Young Kim are proponents of amnesty, which I think is something that really has no place in the Republican Party,” Gill told Breitbart.
Gill did not rule out making additional endorsements, explaining he would use the same criteria in weighing any endorsement decisions as when endorsing Calvert.
“Whenever you get somebody who is in Washington for doing the right thing, you want to keep them there,” Gill said.
Bradley Jaye is Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.
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