Musician Tim Myers Announces Run Against Rep. Ken Calvert In 41st District House Race Next Year

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, musician and former OneRepublic bassist Tim Myers said that he would be running against Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA) in the Inland Empire-Palm Springs based 41st Congressional District race next year.

“Ken Calvert has been in Washington for 30 years,” said Myers in his announcement challenging Calvert as a Democrat. “The status quo isn’t working. Our community is being priced out of homeownership, groceries are more expensive every week and we’re constantly under threat from wildfires and rising crime. It’s time for a change.”

Born in Corona, Myers was in second grade when Calvert was first elected to the House in 1992. After moving to Los Angeles in the early 2000’s, Myers was a bassist for the pop rock back OneRepublic from 2002 to 2007. Following that Myers has had an extensive solo career as both a performer and songwriter. In over two decades as a musician, he has been nominated for Grammys and has had songs reach as high as number 2 on the Billboard charts.

However, Myers enters the race with little to no prior forays into politics and no political experience whatsoever. While another musician, Sonny Bono, previously won an overlapping district centered around Palm Springs in 1994, and served until his death in 1998, he had done so with previous experience. Before running for Congress, Bono had been the Mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992 and before that had been a well known political fundraiser. Myers, on the other hand, hasn’t had so much as a previous run for office or a commissioned position to back himself up on.

While Congressman Calvert hasn’t reacted to Myers entering the race as of Thursday evening, GOP leadership has, calling him out on his lack of leadership and living on the far Western edge of the District, away from the vast majority of the 41st.

“Democrat Tim Myers is everything wrong with today’s radical Left: a Hollywood liberal trying to fake his way into Riverside County,” said National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Spokesman Christian Martinez on Thursday. “He’s not from here, doesn’t know these communities, and sure as hell doesn’t belong in Congress.”

Myers and Calvert

Since redistricting earlier this decade, the 41st district has been one of the closest in the nation, with the Cook Political Report calling the district a toss-up between Republicans and Democrats. This was seen in the prior two elections. In 2022, Calvert beat out Democratic Attorney Will Rollins by a close vote of 123,869 to 112,769 votes, or 52.3% to 47.7%. And last year it was even closer, With Calvert beating Rollins again 183,216 to 171,229, or 51.7% to 48.3%. Both the GOP and Democrats currently have targeted the district for special attention last year, with the GOP aiming to hold it and the Democrats wanting to take it.

For both parties, the district could be key in who gets control of the House in 2026. As the GOP currently has a slim 7 seat majority in the House, a change of close seats like the 41st could lead to the Democrats taking over the House for the first time since 2023.

As the district stretches from the suburbs of Los Angeles across the southern Inland Empire all the way to Palm Springs, Myers would need to shore up significant numbers of supporters the farther East he campaigns. In addition to appealing to the large number of L.A. transplants in the district, Myers would also need to bank on any political resentment towards the Trump administration moving over on the fence independent voters his way. For Calvert, he will need to appeal to the failures of Democratic leaders and continue to work on district issues. However, Calvert has an ace up his sleeve, with $1.3 million of funding being raised in the first quarter of 2025, giving him a head start on the race.

Other Democratic candidates are also expected to announce soon, as some Democrats have already expressed worry about a major candidate having no prior political experience,