Calderon served as a manager in the manufacturing industry, a mortgage banker, and a real estate agent. Calderon's political career began when he served as chief of staff for Ed Chavez. Calderon is the second of his family to serve in the senate and the third to hold a seat in the legislature. Prior to Ronald's election his brothers Charles and Thomas also served in the state assembly.
California Assembly
After redistricting, Calderon's brother Tom Calderon decided to run for California Insurance Commissioner in 2002. Calderon ran for the seat vacated by his brother Tom and won the Democratic primary with 46% of the vote. He won the general election with 63% of the vote. In 2004, he won re-election with 62% of the vote. In 2006, he retired to run for the California State Senate. His brother, Charles, succeeded him. Calderon served as Chairman of the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee. He was also elected Assistant Majority Leader.
Calderon was elected to the 30th Senate District, which includes: Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, La Mirada, Los Angeles, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, California, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, South Gate, Whittier, East Whittier, East Los Angeles, Florence-Graham, Hacienda Heights, South Whittier, and West Whittier-Los Nietos. In 2006, incumbent Democratic State Senator Martha Escutia decided to retire. In the Democratic primary, Calderon defeated fellow State Representative Rudy Bermúdez 50.4%-49.7%, a difference of just 305 votes. He won the general election with 71% of the vote. In 2010, he won re-election with 69% of the vote. In 2014, Calderon could not run for re-election due to term limits, and he was succeeded by Tony Mendoza. Calderon was chairman of the Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee. Senate President Don Perata selected Calderon to lead senate efforts to reform term-limits and redistricting laws, as well as moving the state's presidential primary from June to February. Calderon also chaired the Select Committee on International Business Trade, in addition to sitting on the Appropriations and Energy, Utilities and Communications committees. Calderon also sat on the California Film Commission, which is tasked with promoting and subsidizing the California film industry.
2012 congressional election
In August 2011, Calderon announced he would be running for the United States Congress in the newly redrawn California's 38th congressional district against incumbent U.S. Congresswoman Linda Sánchez in the Democratic primary. Calderon's State Senate district represented around 70% of the redrawn thirty-eighth. Calderon withdrew from the race in January 2012.
Corruption case
On June 4, 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Calderon's offices in the California State Capitol in an attempt to find evidence regarding accusations of criminal activity. On the same day, the FBI also raided the office of California's Latino Legislative Caucus of which Calderon served as vice-chair. An FBI affidavit was published online on October 30, 2013 by cable network Al Jazeera America with a claim that State Sen. Ron Calderon accepted about $88,000 in bribes from a Southern California hospital executive, Michael Drobot, for legislation regarding workers' compensation for an expensive surgical procedure, and an undercover FBI agent posing as a film studio owner during a wide-ranging probe into his conduct as a legislator. On November 12, 2013, Calderon was suspended from his committee assignments, citing the ongoing inquiry into the alleged bribe. On February 21, 2014 Calderon agreed to surrender to federal authorities after being named in a federal grand jury indictment. After surrendering to authorities on February 24, 2014 Calderon appeared in Court and pleaded not guilty to 24 charges relating to wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and falsification of tax returns. His trial was scheduled to commence on April 22, 2014. Calderon was released on a $50,000 surety bond. He could have faced a prison term of up to a maximum 396 years if convicted on all charges. The California Senate gave the senator until March 3, 2014 to either resign or take a leave of absence, failing which a vote would be taken to suspend him from office. On March 2, Calderon announced that he would take a leave of absence. He was absent until the end of the 2014 session, at which point he was term-limited out of office. On June 13, 2016, federal prosecutors announced that Calderon agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud. A week earlier his brother Thomas pleaded guilty money-laundering. In October 2016, Calderon was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder to serve 42 months in federal prison and perform 150 hours of community service. In January 2017, Calderon began his prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan in January 2017. Calderon was released in January 2019, 18 months less than the 42-month sentence imposed. Through his attorney, Mark Geragos, he had petitioned the Bureau of Prisons to be released 12 month earlier, in January 2018, under the Second Chance Act of 2007.
Personal life
In 1982, Calderon married Ana. They have two children, Jessica and Zachary. Calderon resides in Montebello, California.
