Raises Additional $350K in Q1 as Momentum Accelerates
First-Time Candidate Tops Both Republican Incumbents in 800-Voter Survey; Continues to Outraise All Democratic Opponents Combined
Lake Elsinore, CA — Democrat Esther Kim-Varet today announced that she leads all candidates, including the CA-40 race’s two Republican incumbents, heading into the upcoming June 2nd primary election for California’s 40th Congressional district. Kim-Varet also today announced that she raised more than $350,000 in the first quarter of 2026, bringing her campaign funding to date to a total of $2.75 million, cementing her position as the frontrunner for the only race in the nation poised to unseat not one but two Republicans from the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Kim-Varet campaign’s primary poll, conducted by Tulchin Research among 800 likely voters (twice the sample size of all other CA-40 polls to date) simulated the candidate ballot selections for informed voters across the political spectrum in the top-two primary for which candidates of all parties appear on the same ballot. The poll results project Kim-Varet and Calvert advancing to face off in the general election, well outside the poll’s 3.59% margin of error:
- Esther Kim-Varet (D-challenger): 30%
- Ken Calvert (R-incumbent): 29%
- Young Kim (R-incumbent): 20%
- Other Democrat & NPP candidates (combined): 12%
- Undecided: 10%
Kim-Varet’s Q1 fundraising haul of more than $350,000 brings her cycle total to $2.75 million, all raised without a single dollar from corporate or foreign interest PACs. In Q1 alone Kim-Varet’s campaign received more than 12,300 donations from 9,034 individual donors, with an average donation size of $28.50 – her campaign received a new donation on average every 10 minutes during the quarter. Kim-Varet continues to hold an overwhelming financial advantage among CA-40 challenger candidates, with a cash-on-hand lead of nearly 15-to-1 over her nearest Democratic rival entering the quarter.
CA-40 is the only congressional district in America where two Republican incumbents are running against each other, a unique opportunity created by Prop 50 redistricting. Ken Calvert and Young Kim have collectively spent decades in Washington bankrolled by the very industries they’re supposed to regulate. Calvert is seeking his 17th term in Congress, having held his seat for more than 33 years – since Kim-Varet was in grade school! Kim-Varet is the only candidate in the race with both the grassroots support and the financial resources to defeat these two deeply corrupt and well-funded incumbents.
Kim-Varet’s poll results signal a decisive appetite among CA-40 voters for a new generation of leadership. In a district long held by entrenched incumbents, a first-time candidate – a small business owner, educator, and mom – is now leading the field. With 10% of voters still undecided, the campaign sees significant room to grow heading into the final stretch before the June 2 primary.
“Two corrupt incumbents funded by corporate PACs, fifty years in Congress between them, and they’re both losing to a first-time candidate funded by 35,000+ individual small-dollar donors,” said Kim-Varet. “No other House race in America offers what CA-40 does: the chance to flip two Republican seats for the price of one. That’s why concerned citizens across this district and the nation are investing in our campaign.”
Kim-Varet’s campaign continues to expand its grassroots operation across Orange and Riverside counties, with active voter canvassing teams of field staff and volunteers in CA-40 communities from Lake Elsinore to Mission Viejo. Meanwhile, Kim-Varet’s digital reach has surpassed 50 million impressions and 150,000 followers.
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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. Learn more at www.estherforcongress.org
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