What current campaign do you think is the most negative? Tell me your opinions and I will post mine.

Ventura County Star reporter Timm Herdt posted that a Democratic Super Pac made a huge purchase for this new ad supporting Julia Brownley. With only a few weeks to go before voters choose the top two candidates I expect more outside interest groups to help her.

This ad is designed to rally the base of the Democratic Party. What do you think? With only one registered Republican running I expect Tony Strickland will get first place. The real contest is between Julia Brownley and Linda Parks to make the top two. Have you seen this ad or others on television?

Republican Tony Strickland has a page on his website for issues. With vote by mail ballots coming out within weeks he hasn't filled it in yet. As of today it says coming soon.

Because the other candidates haven't been mentioning him much he has the luxury to leave his issues page blank.

http://www.tonystrickland.com/tony-strickland-on-the-issues.php

The top Democrat Julia Brownley hasn't filled in her page either. It also says "coming soon". These campaign has seemed much less energetic than I expected.

I understand Tony Strickland has the luxury of spending most of his time raising money. But I am surprised Julia Brownley has not updated that section of her page.

David Cruz Thayne when he mentions his opponents almost exclusively focuses his energies on Julia Brownley. I posted this on his Facebook page:

Does it make sense to target mostly Democratic voters or should he also be going after Linda Park's base of support too? It seems most of the candidates are ignoring Linda Parks. That seems like a mistake to me. She is a popular politician. I am curious what her upcoming campaign finance report will show us.

With absentee ballots coming out soon more mail and calls will be made. You can email me any mailers you receive that you want me to post.

Ventura county Star Reporter Timm Herdt destroyed the claim that Buck McKeon was paying Patricia McKeon a fair wage for her work. Click here to read his post.

I haven't followed this story enough to make sense of it. State Assembly Candidate Patricia McKeon was attacked by an anonymous website that she apparently complained was set up by her rival Scott Wilk. I saw the website a few times. Sometimes it was interesting but I didn't want to post from it because it included personal attacks and comments on physical appearances.

Now, Scott Wilk's team is arguing they caught Patricia McKeon in a blatant lie and they have a letter from the District Attorney and the audio to support their claim.

http://westranchbeacon.com/2012/03/patricia-mckeon-can-we-believe-anything-she-says/comment-page-1/#comment-496822

The 38th Assembly District primary election is going to get nastier as the election gets closer.

Who do you believe?

You don't need to register to comment. Please keep it classy.

Ventura County Democrats are trying to attack polarizing Republicans like Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh to Tony Strickland. Click on this link to read more.

Here is the message from the Ventura County Democratic Party.

As you've probably heard, Rush Limbaugh has gotten into a lot of trouble over his misogynistic and sexist remarks about women who use contraception. But it's not just Limbaugh. Republican leaders like Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have painted described basic contraception as immoral, too.

Well, it's time to get local Republicans like Tony Strickland on the record about birth control. [link]Ask them TODAY if they agree with Republican leaders Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh that birth control is immoral.[/link]

The citizens of Ventura County have a right to know if the Republicans who want to represent them in Washington and Sacramento share their Republican leaders' antiquated views. Please take a few minutes to ask Tony Strickland whether he would vote with Limbaugh and Santorum on birth control.

Please fill out the form below to send an email to Republicans asking them if they agree with Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santorum that birth control is immoral. Let them know that you support the ability of women being to control their own bodies, and the ability of families to plan their futures responsibly. And thank you again for helping to hold your local Republicans accountable to real moral values!

The Democratic candidates are spending time concentrating on each other as Linda Parks is campaigning on bipartisanship. That leaves Tony Strickland without much opposition that is organized against him.

I would ask Tony Strickland if he thinks Rush Limbaugh is a good conservative leader.

A local Republican activist posted this status update on Facebook. It got me thinking I should post the amount of Facebook supporters for a variety of campaigns.

Here are the numbers for State Senate District

Hannah-Beth Jackson:
247

Jason Hodge:
108

I support Jason Hodge.

What's the best use of Facebook you have seen in a Ventura County campaign?

Paul Strickland is running in a crowded primary to replace termed out legislator Cameron Smyth (R). The other candidates include Scott Wilk (R), Patricia McKeon(R), and Edward Headington (D).

Paul Strickland is a former staff Member for Cameron Smyth and is a board member of his local school district.

He has agreed for me to interview him using the comments section of my blog.

Go to his website for more information:

http://www.electpaulstrickland.com/news/

Click on continue reading for the interview.

Steve Bennett has ended his campaign for Congress and announced he is running for re-election. His re-election to the Board of Supervisors is complicated by the many candidates that have declared since they thought there was an opening.

As of now there are officially 2 Republicans, 1 decline to state, and 1 Democrat running for that position. As the only Democrat in an area that has a voter registration advantage for Democrats and as an incumbent he has a strong chance of being re-elected.

Here is his official announcement:

Dear Supporter,

Yesterday, I announced the end of my Congressional run and the resumption of my efforts to be re-elected to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.
A variety of reasons were involved in my decision. Ultimately, given the circumstances, I believe I can make more of a difference working for the residents of Ventura County as a County Supervisor should I be fortunate enough to be re-elected.
If you were a financial supporter of my campaign, I will be returning all donations as soon as possible, and my wife and I will be covering all of the campaign expenses.
New candidates are now looking at the race. When this settles down I will communicate to those of you who supported me financially concerning who I believe will give us the best chance to keep Tony Strickland from winning the seat.
Thank you for your support and I will keep in touch.

Steve Bennett
Ventura County Supervisor

P.S. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions by writing to me at stephenbennett@charter.net.

He includes that new candidates are now considering joining the crowded field. Who could those candidates be? Many people have mentioned Rep. Brad Sherman as a candidate. Brad Sherman has officially denied any interest in running for the Ventura County based district. He is currently running against fellow Democrat Rep. Howard Berman.

Brad Sherman would be a formidable candidate. He has a sizable war chest and an effective campaign team. Democrats are strongly motivated to avoid a contested primary between Bard Sherman and Howard Berman. This could be their solution. Brad Sherman previously represented the Conejo Valley in Congress.

How do you think this latest announcement by Steve Bennett changes the election? Who benefits the most?

Have you been following the Countrywide VIP loan scandal? In response to Buck McKeon's claims of not knowing almost anything a reader sent me this note:

Countrywide build a huge loan processing center in Lancaster in McKeon's district.

The developer who built the loan processing center is Frank Visco, former State Party Chair of the Republican Party and a financial backer of Buck McKeon.

Visco has two homes - one in Lancaster the other in Sherwood Country Club. Who was Visco's neighbor in Sherwood? Angelo Mozilo!

David Cruz Thayne had a childhood friend talk in this video to introduce him to voters. From my personal experiences meeting the candidate I would agree his friend accurately describes his personality.

It is hard for candidates to share who they are with voters, especially in CA26 where there isn't a local television station dedicated to Ventura County. I know they may run shorter ads on cable, but it will be very interesting to see how campaigns get their message out using new media methods.

Related: David Pollock's Bad News Bears video goes viral.