Fellow Small Business Owner, Former Entertainment Executive, and Environmental Champion Backs Kim-Varet to Retire MAGA Incumbents Young Kim and Ken Calvert — Who Have Spent a Combined 39 Years in Congress Voting Against the Interests of Californians
COTO DE CAZA, CA — Esther Kim-Varet, frontrunner to flip California’s 40th Congressional District, today announced the endorsement of Rep. Laura Friedman (CA-30), the freshman Congresswoman representing Burbank, Glendale, West Hollywood, and parts of Los Angeles and Pasadena. Friedman, a former film and television executive turned small business owner who succeeded Adam Schiff in Congress, has built a national reputation as a fierce advocate for affordable housing, environmental protection, and fighting corporate corruption — all of which are core pillars of Kim-Varet’s campaign to flip CA-40.
“Esther is exactly the kind of leader California needs in Congress — a working mom and small business owner who answers to her community, not corporate donors,” said Rep. Laura Friedman. “CA-40 is shaping up to be the critical race in Southern California in our battle to win back the House. Esther has the grassroots support, the resources, and the backbone to retire them both. I’m proud to stand with her.”
MAGA Rep. Young Kim and MAGA Rep. Ken Calvert have occupied their congressional seats for a combined 39 years — and in that time, have amassed a despicable record of putting corporate donors and Donald Trump ahead of the Californians they were elected to serve.
Calvert, who has been in Congress since 1993 (Esther was still in elementary school!), has been named one of the most corrupt members of Congress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and has used his position to personally profit from earmarks directed to land deals near his own real estate holdings. Young Kim has taken huge sums from the oil and gas industry, earned an “F-” from the League of Conservation Voters, and cast the deciding vote on a Republican budget bill that would strip healthcare from over 40,000 of her own constituents.
“I am honored to have Rep. Friedman’s support,” said Esther Kim-Varet. “We both came to politics through the private sector of the creative industry — we know what it’s like to build something from nothing, to make payroll, to fight for every dollar. That’s the mentality I’ll bring to Congress.”
Rep. Friedman’s endorsement adds to a growing list of national, state, and local allies backing Kim-Varet’s campaign, including (but not limited to) the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (ASPIRE PAC), VoteMama, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Gil Cisneros, State Senator Catherine Blakespear, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, Mayor Pro-Tem of Lake Elsinore Tim Sheridan, former Rep. Harley Rouda, and former Rep. Dean Phillips.
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California’s newly drawn 40th Congressional District, spanning portions of Riverside County and Orange County, is one of the most consequential U.S. House district battlegrounds in the nation. CA-40 includes the cities of Rancho Santa Margarita, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and Canyon Lake as well as parts of Mission Viejo, Orange, Anaheim and Corona.
First-time candidate Esther Kim-Varet has raised over $2.8 million to date, powered by over 60,000 individual small dollar contributions from across the nation, with no corporate or foreign PAC money whatsoever. Esther is not a politician — she is a working mom of two young kids, running for Congress to restore the American Dream for all. In Congress, Esther will combat corruption, defend democracy, and fight for the middle class, small businesses, public education, and healthcare access.
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