24th Congressional District seat
Local race mirrors national climate of polarity
By Shane Cohn 10/07/2010
When Rep. Elton Gallegly was elected to Congress, Ronald Reagan was president, the New York Mets were World Series champs, and congressional opponent Tim Allison was 18 years old.
But there have since been four new presidents, the Mets have had consecutive losing seasons, and Allison is poised to usurp Gallegly from the Congressional seat he has held for 24 years.
In the past four elections, Gallegly’s margin of victory in the 24th District has steadily declined. In 2002, he held 65 percent of the vote; 2004, 63 percent; 2006, 62 percent; and in 2008, 58 percent.
2010 finds incumbent Gallegly campaigning in a district that voted for President Obama, and competing against a man who worked as coordinator for Obama’s campaign in Santa Barbara County, as well as an Obama delegate to the Democratic Convention in Denver, Col.
Meanwhile, political pundits have said that 2010 will be a politically intriguing year regarding incumbents like Gallegly. According to recent Gallup Poll results, 65 percent of registered voters — the highest in Gallup history— now say most members of Congress do not deserve re-election, and they would rather vote for a congressional candidate with no prior experience in Congress.
Yet Gallegly’s name has been synonymous with Ventura County and the 24th District for nearly a quarter of a century, and he can’t imagine it otherwise.
“There is a reason they have elected me more than once,” Gallegly told the VCReporter. “The fact remains that my focus is on the economy. It has always been, particularly with small business. Not job-killer bills like Obamacare. Not job-killer bills like the stimulus package.”
The political forecast is calling for an equally difficult time for democrats like Allison, especially ones with ties to Obama. The public’s love affair with the president has drastically plummeted in the past year, from 65 percent to 46 percent, according to Gallup.
But Allison’s grass-roots campaign has steamrolled through the primaries and into the forefront, where Tim Allison campaign signs are sprouting up like dandelions. Though the $105,286 Allison has raised in campaign funding pales in comparison to Gallegly’s $671,093 (according to Federal Election Commission data) Allison says his door-to-door approach has been gaining momentum.
“We’ve got tons of volunteers going door to door, precinct to precinct, city to city, working our way across the district,” said Allison. “You’ve got to talk to people individually. Especially when you’re running against someone who has been in office 24 years and most people in the district have never met him.”
Allison, a former statewide officer of the Environmental Caucus for the state Democratic Party, believes Gallegly, who has spoken at Tea Party-related events, has fallen out of touch with district constituents and has become a stranger to voters.
“He is a very extreme representative, and this is not an extreme district,” said Allison. This is a very moderate district. It’s a district evenly split with Republicans and Democrats, and his views don’t represent those of the constituents of this district.”
Allison pointed out that Gallegly’s record in Congress is well below par for a representative that has served for more than 20 years. Gallegly has sponsored 179 bills since he has been in Congress, 156 of which haven’t made it out of committee, and only nine were successfully enacted, according to GovTrack.us.
Recently, however, Gallegly sponsored a bill, HR 6150, in response to the 2008 Metrolink rail disaster, which would raise the liability cap on rail accidents when gross negligence is the cause; and he also sponsored HR 5566 prohibiting interstate commerce in animal crush videos.
Both Gallegly and Allison are running their campaigns on platforms of employment, economic stimulus and the promise to ensure that future generations are not handed down a legacy riddled with debt and poor education.
Allison said he has requested four debates with Gallegly so the public can see the fundamental differences between the two candidates, but he has received “no response whatsoever.”
“He’s treating me like he does most of his constituents — not returning my calls,” said Allison. “I think the way you campaign offers some clues about how you will do the job.”
Gallegly said he hasn’t heard of any such requests from Allison, saying Allison has been “a stealth candidate” and that they’ve only met once before.
Whether or not the candidates will meet in a head-to-head debate, the county’s congressional race between the Republican incumbent and Democrat hopeful will likely reflect the nation’s political climate.
As Gallegly put it, “The issue here in this election, unlike so many other elections, is that people have a very clear philosophical difference. Very clear.”
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