David Cruz Thayne sent out his introduction video. I like his lines that he took a dip and he got crunched. Watch it and post what you think. You don't need to register to comment but keep it classy.

I sent an email asking if this is playing on television. His campaign manager said it is a web ad for now. Have you seen any congressional ads on television? All of the congressional campaigns seem very quiet.

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.

David Cruz Thayne is expanding his staff. This Facebook update was from his campaign manager. The CA26 district is going to be very competitive. David Cruz Thayne is one of the many candidates running.

Another added bonus to more competitive districts in Ventura County is more opportunities for jobs working on campaigns. This is a great opportunity for people that want to add to their political experiences.

If you are running for a legislative office you need to prove you can work with others to pass legislation.

To prove that you can build coalitions endorsements from local elected officials matter.

That includes local school boards, park boards, and city councils.

Endorsements matter.

Now that Linda Parks is running as a no preference candidate more Democrats are worrying that that a divided field could cause the November election to be a choice between Tony Strickland and Linda Parks.

I am wondering if all of the candidates will end up running.

Democratic activists across the nation are paying attention to CA26 because it could help Democrats take control over the House of Representatives.

What party will she caucus with? If she won't join a caucus for either party she won't get committee assignments. Who will she vote for to be the next Speaker?

Linda Parks has limited her campaign so far mostly to calls for bipartisanship and moderation.

What are her positions on SOPA, NDAA, NCLB, DADT, and Afghanistan? What about Citizens United? The payroll tax cut? Healthcare Reform?

She hasn't been talking about these issues. She isn't appearing at the forums Democrats are organizing. Are there going to be forums for all of the candidates before June?

Democrats worried about Linda Parks and Tony Strickland making the top two seem to want to convince someone to drop out. But who would be open to dropping out?

This post on DailyKos.com seems to be representative of the views of many establishment liberals who are supporting Julia Brownley.

Should one or more of the candidates drop out for the good of their party? If so, which candidate?

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.

( Steve Bennett, David Pollock, and David Cruz Thayne.)

The field isn't officially set for the Ventura County based CA-26 Congressional District but the campaigns have been busy.

On Saturday I was honored to be the host of a program put on by Conejo Valley Democrats called Eye on the issues. They asked me to introduce these three candidates and ask them questions from club members. Democrat Jess Herrera was invited but did not attend. I am not sure why.

The program will play on local cable access and then it will be posted on YouTube.

When the video is posted I will post that and include more of my thoughts.

Some quick thoughts:

1. Reading from a Teleprompter for the first time was interesting. Made much more interesting because I took some strong cold medicine before the show.

2. I am honestly not sure why I would vote for yet. The top two primary system makes strategic voting complicated.

3. I'll ask each for an interview in the future so I can ask them more specifics. If you are running for office and would like to be interviewed online let me know. I like asking specific questions that give candidates the time to think.

Oxnard Harbor Commissioner Jess Herrera will be announcing he is running for Congress in the new Ventura County based congressional district. I don't know when it will be official but he did request the paperwork to start a campaign.

There will now be five declared Democratic candidates and no declared Republicans.

Calitics has an interesting analysis of the district that shows it could be a swing district. Their analysis shows that Democrats have a registration advantage. I appreciate their work in collecting the data.

I am not sure how this changes the dynamics of the campaign. The most obvious impact is that David Cruz Thayne's plan to appeal to Latino voters just became harder. Steve Bennett also has another West County based elected official to compete with. The advantage might be to David Pollock of Moorpark.

Democrats should be excited to have so many top tier candidates with experience in politics.

I will post the official campaign announcement after it is made.

If Elton Gallegly does not run in this district he has made it harder for some Republicans to organize a campaign. Last time he made so many people wonder what he might do he declared his final intentions after it was too late for Tony Strickland to run because he had already filed for another office. The rumors I keep hearing is that Greg Totten might be a candidate if Gallegly is not.

The Star had a news article that wondered if Gallegly might run against fellow Republican Buck McKeon in another district that includes Simi Valley. McKeon hasn't been in Congress as long as Gallegly but he does have a more influential position as he is the Chair of a Committee.

A big question I have is which of the candidates is willing or able to put the most personal resources into the campaign. I don't know the relative wealth of each of the candidates.

For first time readers: You don't have to register or use your real name to comment but please keep it classy.

Democratic Congressional candidate David Cruz Thayne has been open that a part of his campaign strategy is to appeal to latino voters. He believes the heritage of his family, speaking Spanish, and understanding being an immigrant will appeal to many voters.

He is a professional tennis coach and has been involved in the creation of a few documentaries. In many of his past professional involvements online he is listed as David Thayne, but in his campaign materials he goes by David Cruz Thayne. Should it matter?

Apparently it does matter to the David Pollock campaign as their latest news release includes two references to David Thayne but not to David Cruz Thayne.

It could be an oversight. In a past blog entry I accidentally didn't use his full name and the campaign sent me a message asking for a correction, which I quickly did.

People go by different names during their lives for many reasons. David Cruz Thayne might have reverted to including Cruz in his name for political reasons.

In a low information crowded primary ballot designations and names might be enough to differentiate the candidates. I wonder what titles each will choose. David Pollock has a claim to being an educator because of his past experience being on a school board. Steve Bennett was a classroom teacher so he could claim educator also. What will David Cruz Thayne choose?

I don't have a preferred candidate at this time. I have spoken to to three of them and they all seem like good people. Time will tell who will be a good Member of Congress.

The only three announced candidates for the new Ventura County based district met for a debate. Steve Bennett, David Cruz Thayne, and David Pollock debated in front of the Ventura City Democratic Club with KADY TV filming it.

You can watch the whole debate by going to KADY TV and searching for it. Their video player doesn't allow embedding on other sites.

Debates like these aren't widely seen by voters and often not even by party activists. But after watching the video I think you will see why David Pollock would like more people to watch it. To do that I was impressed that his campaign sent out a Youtube video with highlights of his performance.

After watching the debate what moments or answers stand out for you?

As a service to local campaigns trying to connect with local voters I will post a Facebook like box on entries I write about a campaign if the campaign sends me the HTML for the box. My readers can click on that box to connect with the campaign on Facebook. Consider it a free advertisement.

The like box has a few options including a newsfeed. That allows you to have your newsfeed on each entry on your campaign that I write.

Which candidate for Congress has the quickest technology team? David Pollock, Steve Bennett, or David Cruz Thayne? Send me the HTML.

UPDATE: David Cruz Thayne is the first Congressional candidate to submit his HTML.

David Cruz Thayne had the HTML submitted. He currently has 116 likes on his page and has a goal of 2,000. If you would like to follow his campaign click like below.

Tennis Professional David Cruz Thayne issued a press release in response to Steve Bennett announcing he is running for the new Ventura County based congressional seat. Click on continue to read the entire press release. His press release hints at the direct criticisms I expect David Cruz Thayne will be using against Steve Bennett. I was surprised by the tone this early in a campaign.

In a related note here is some free advice to new candidates. Don't include the year you are running in your URL. Consider not including the position either. If you run for a different position or if you run again you will need a new website URL, which will push other search results before your official website. My blog shouldn't be the top result for Congressional candidates.

Also please don't substitute the numeric 4 in place of for, especially if education is a central part of your platform. When you mention your website you have to explain it is the number 4.

You can comment on my blog without registering. But if you are tired of the negativity of anonymous comments you can join the conversation on the Facebook page for my blog.