WASHINGTON (AP) — One is the longest-serving woman in congressional history. The other is dean of the Republican delegation from California and the chairman of a subcommittee responsible for Pentagon spending. Together, they have more than seven decades of experience serving in Congress.
And both are in what could be the fight of their political lives.
The list of competitive House races in next month’s election is filled with freshmen and two-term representatives who are hoping to survive for another term so they can build their credentials and gain a measure of seniority for plum committee assignments.
Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Ken Calvert, R-Calif., are the opposite of that.
Kaptur was first sworn into the House in 1983. President Ronald Reagan was halfway through his first term. Calvert assumed office in 1993, the year Bill Clinton became president.
The two have often sailed to victory in past congressional races, but have seen their districts redrawn after the last decennial census to become more competitive. Both overcome that change in the 2022 midterm elections. The narrowness of those wins, however, has both parties pouring millions of dollars into the two races, whose outcomes will help determine which party controls the House next year.