Disappointing news

20-year incumbent Congressman Elton Gallegly will not be running for another term in Congress. The Congressman bowed out of the Republican primary in California's 24th Congressional district this week, just at the filing deadline:

Congressman Elton Gallegly, who represents parts of Orcutt, Lompoc and the Santa Ynez Valley, announced hours before Friday's candidate filing deadline that he will not seek re-election due to a medical condition.

The Republican from Simi Valley has served 20 years in Congress, representing California's 24th District.

He pulled out Friday just before candidates had to turn in necessary paperwork to local county elections offices in order to appear on the June 6 ballot. The district covers parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

As to why, all the Simi Valley resident would say is that, “I have been dealing with a medical issue that is yet to be resolved,” Gallegly, 62, said in a statement. “Although I am hopeful it will be resolved positively, it would not be fair to my constituents and supporters should I be forced to withdraw from the race mid-year.”

Personally, I find this very disappointing. Gallegly was first elected to Congress in 1984. At that time California's 24th District included our home in Thousand Oaks. After re-districting in the early 90's, our area became part of the district represented by former Democratic Congressman Anthony Bielensohn.

As I moved in those years from Thousand Oaks to the Valley and many of the cities in-between, I always bemoaned the fact that we'd been redistricted out from under Gallegly (though now, my childhood home is in fact part of his district again).

After we got back here to California and I came to learn that our little slice of Lompoc fell in Gallegly's district, I was looking forward to living under representation that I, for the most part, would agree with.

Now...who knows. His withdrawal from the race leaves the situation rather unsettled:

Because of the timing of Gallegly's withdrawal, his name will appear on the June primary. Michael Tenenbaum, a lawyer from Thousand Oaks, is the only other Republican to file for the seat. Tenenbaum serves as an alternate on the Ventura County Republican Central Committee. He's also on the public education committee of the Ventura County Bar Association.

Candidate lists will be finalized by Ventura County election officials late next week.

If Gallegly receives more votes than Tenenbaum in June - people can vote for him even though he has withdrawn - Gallegly's name will also appear on the November general-election ballot.

Gallegly filed his candidate forms for the election on Feb. 17, well before the Friday deadline.
Three Democrats pulled paperwork to run for the 24th Congressional District, but only one filed papers by late Friday afternoon.

It will all shakeout of course, it's just a matter of how quickly and who will be left standing at the end of it all.