Challengers file against Gallegly
Congressman to seek 12th term
By Cheryl Ellis 02/21/2008
Change has been a theme in this year’s election rhetoric, but where does that change begin? For the Democratic candidates in California’s 24th Congressional district, one which has been represented by Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly for 20 years, it begins in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
This month, candidates began filing for candidacy in the 24th District. Gallegly filed for re-election without much fanfare. Two democrats, Mary Pallant of Ventura County and Marta Jorgenson of Santa Barbara County, also filed.
There has been some speculation that Jill Martinez, who ran against Gallegly in 2006, would join the race again this session, but Martinez was not able to be reached for comment.
Pallant and Jorgenson are both touting issues of change, which they say is particularly relevant in this district, where Gallegly has held the congressional seat for 11 consecutive terms. But they have differing approaches to accomplishing this. While Pallant would like to see change begin with follow through on plans already laid out in Congress, Jorgenson wants to make change a grassroots effort.
“I believe that Congress has become disconnected from the people. My campaign is about reconnecting people with their congressperson, because our congressman has not represented this district for a longtime,” Jorgenson said. “He is like an absentee landlord.”
If elected, Jorgenson said she would like to begin a series of town hall meetings which would put a face back on congressional representation. Pallant, on the other hand, is looking more to finish what Congress has already started.
“Gallegly has been rubber stamping the Bush administration’s policies for years at the expense of the people of Ventura County,” she said. When asked about her plans for total withdraw from Iraq, a central plank in her platform, Pallant said, “There are several plans at work in Congress, so we don’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel. Congress just needs to make the decision that our policy was misguided from the beginning.”
She also deferred to current legislation on the economy. “There are already plans in place for the economy, but it is an issue of tying it in with Iraq,” Pallant said, “We are spending $2 million every week in Iraq. We need to bring that money home to invest in infrastructure and green technology.”
In the race to unseat a longtime incumbent, qualifications are always in question. Pallant, a resident of Oak Park, serves on the Ventura County Commission for women and is presently a member of the Organizational Development Committee for the California Democratic Party. She is an entrepreneur, having run an insurance agency for 10 years.
Jorgenson is also an entrepreneur, running a computer education firm which serves children in her local Solvang, and has worked for several years as an environmental activist.
Gallegly, on the other hand, is a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and serves on the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. In 1995, he landed the chairmanship of the Congressional Task Force on Immigration which published a 200-plus page report with more than 80 specific recommendations. Most of those recommendations became law in 1996. Gallegly has received endorsements from all over the county including many high-ranking county officials and in a primarily Republican district, he has proven to be a formidable competitor in the past. But his competition is not moved by precedent.
“Bring it on!” Jorgenson said. “The trends are changing. If [Gallegly] thinks he is going to get by with everyone sitting on their laurels, he is dead wrong. The Democrats have been motivated, and we have seen this trend in the presidential primary turnout.”
Pallant was equally optimistic.
“This is our time,” she said. “Unseating Gallegly is certainly a daunting task, but I can’t sit idly by. I believe in the politics of ideas and the politics of hope for a better America and a better democracy.”
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