It doesn’t have to be Calculus AB, it could be regular calculus if it’s offered.
Be careful, AP Physics should be AP Physics 1 (which can be taken by juniors and only requires Algebra2 mastery/some precalculus) NOT AP Physics C (which is harcore). Honors Physics, if offered, is perfectly acceptable too. The idea is to show she’s not afraid of the subject even if she’s a future government major. She has that intellectual confidence and curiosity, she can handle applied algebra - that’s all top colleges need.
She should NOT plan tons and tons of AP’s though, and most should be in Humanities/Social Science.
Perhaps she can take EITHER Physics or Calculus at AP level + the other one at Honors level, then add relevant Humanities/Social Science APs.
Finally, it’s perfectly fine to have one “fun”, unweighted class senior year. I think Culinary Arts is very useful, but Home Economics, Financial Literacy, Shop, Plumbing, Current Events… can all work.