We have previously explored new methods of getting campaign cash by members of the new (TFG Era) Republican Party. Ted “Cancun” Cruz heads the list, but there is also the constellation of kid lit authors corraled by Brave Books. But here on the Left Coast, that new-fangled stuff hasn’t caught on yet. Republicans here are still engaged in what can now be called old-fashioned grift.

Case in point, my own elected representative to Congress, Ken Calvert (R CA-41). Calvert has been into real estate since he gave up managing his parents’ restaurant in the sleepy inland town of Corona, California, in the 1970s. In 1979, he founded Ken Calvert Real Properties, Inc. which is now run by his brother, Quint. Nevertheless, Ken still keeps his hand in the business, frequently in partnerships.

Like the one identified by the DC Watchdog group End Citizens United, as reported here.

End Citizens United filed a complaint at the Office of Congressional Ethics, citing Calvert’s partnership in his real estate acquisitions where he “failed to disclose information about various rental properties that he owns in Riverside County”.

Calvert, they say, made “use of the legislative process known as earmarking to secure more than $100 million in taxpayer funds for his district, including more than $16 million for transportation projects within a few miles of his own rental properties.”

Calvert’s office claims that this is all stuff and nonsense: “This is a meritless complaint from a far-left super PAC that’s endorsed Ken’s opponent.”

Well, that last part makes so much sense that it probably is true enough.

This couldn’t come at a worse time for Calvert, who is involved in one of the most competitive congressional races in the country. Current polls show Calvert trailing his Democratic opponent by a point. His opponent is Will Rollins, who is back in the saddle again: he nearly defeated Calvert in the 2022 mid-term election.

I can’t think of a worse, more ill-timed thing to occur to Calvert as we ramp up to the general election now that we are inside the 90-day mark. Well, there may be one.

He could accept Will’s challenge to a 3-debate format on a local TV station formerly owned by Gene Autry.

But he won’t.