One of the more interesting House races in the midterms is happening in Riverside County, California. The longest-serving Republican in the state congressional delegation, Ken Calvert, was redistricted into the 41st Congressional District, a swing seat that includes his hometown of Corona but also the more liberal desert cities to the east. That includes Palm Springs, a liberal bastion and the only city in America with an all-LGBT city council. Calvert only won 48 percent of the vote in the all-party primary, and Republicans outpolled Democrats by just 53 percent to 47 percent.

Calvert has a long history as an opponent of gay rights; until this year, he sported a perfect zero percent score from the Human Rights Campaign. His first re-election campaign in 1994 against Mark Takano, now a congressman in the western part of the county, was notable for the hot pink and lavender mailers Calvert sent, intimating a "secret agenda" and wondering whether Takano would represent "Riverside … or San Francisco." Takano was outed as gay by a Calvert ally during that race, and critics have called the mailers homophobic.

Anticipating the political liability, Calvert was one of 47 Republicans who voted to codify same-sex marriage in July, and has said he harbors no ill will toward gay and lesbian people. This November, he will be facing Will Rollins, an openly gay former federal prosecutor who campaigns with his partner at his side. The race has gotten notice in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, mostly on the theme of gay rights.