Many candidates pay to be included on targeted slate mailers. Sometimes they are deceptive, like when a Republican Simi Valley City Council Member pays to be included on a mailer with the headline: Voter Information Guide for Democrats. That's okay as she helped to fund a mailer for all of the Democrats listed that did not pay!

If there is an asterisk next to a candidate's name that means they paid to be included on the slate mailer. The best I have seen is when conservative Democratic Party Republican Party leader Audra Strickland paid to be on a mailer with John F. Kennedy on it. Audra Strickland is a proud conservative Republican. Her inclusion on that mailer doesn't reflect her voting record.

The endorsement of a party allows access to resources for a candidate including databases of voters, inclusion on official slate mailers, invitations to events, being put on the agenda to speak to party club meetings, and more.

Because of the great campaigns being put on by many proud Democrats like Nathan Sweet, Bob Rust, Marie Panec, and more I expect that Democrats will come out as winners in Ventura County this week. They won't win every contest but they will have a deeper bench of leaders after the ballots are counted.

Democratic Congressional candidates Tim Allison and Marie Panec were featured in a news story detailing their campaign strategies. Both of them are relying heavily on grassroots campaigning to get their message out.

I am interviewing Marie Panec this Thursday night. Please suggest questions you think I should ask her.

Tim Allison has been adding to his endorsements in the past few weeks and has claimed almost every party institution, interest group, and elected official that endorses in a Democratic primary.

I haven't heard much from Shawn Stern lately but he emailed me to let me know he has been working hard.

Who are you supporting? Vote in my unscientific poll below:

The Santa Barbara Democratic Party is pressuring candidates to sign a clean campaign pledge. You can view the pledge by clicking on continue reading. So far in the CA 24 Democratic Primary Tim Allison has signed the pledge but Shawn Stern and Marie Pane have not.

After you read the pledge post a comment with your thoughts if the other candidates should sign it. You don't have to register to comment but keep it classy.

I predict Stern and Panec will pledge to sign it by this Monday.

UPDATE: I was totally wrong on that prediction.

Marie Panec is kicking off her campaign by holding an event to meet her staff, share ideas, and organize her primary campaign. Click on continue reading for details.

The contest for the Democratic nomination is between Tim Allison, Shawn Stern, and Marie Panec.

I am on Twitter. Follow me at Twitter.com/dennert

Democrat Shawn Stern is planning a whole different type of campaign that he says will demonstrate what type of Member of Congress he would be. He isn't raising money. You read that correctly. He isn't making phone calls and his website doesn't even have a donate now button. He won't take your money even if you offered it to him.

Instead he is trying to show that he would be much more accessible than Rep. Gallegly has been. He has put up a new website where people can ask him questions that he will address in an upcoming online press conference. I submitted a question asking if he would vote to remove Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) and I asked him if he held Lincoln or Washington in higher regard. Go ask him your own question @ :

This week he is planning a press conference outside of Rep. Elton Gallegly's office where he is going to explain this claim:

"Mr. Gallegly has held no town hall meetings, no press conferences, and is unavailable to the people in our community. It's the job of a Congressman to listen to his community, and then stand for us in Washington. We have not seen that from him."

Click on continue reading for his press release.

Shawn,

Running a campaign without money on the surface seems like a bad plan. But we will see what type of media coverage, how many letters to the editor, and what level of buzz among activists that you can generate without significant financial contributions. I think the plan is flawed but the next few weeks will be a test of your strategy.

Moorpark Professor Marie Panec sent out a press release showing she is officially running and included the themes of her campaign. I have heard she has built up an organization of dedicated students to help her win the primary campaign.

She stands out from her opponents in the primary because she is already an elected official. She is currently a School Board Member in the highly regard Oak Park School District.

Click on continue reading for her press release.

I spoke with candidate Shawn Stern tonight and he is planning a big week ahead. I will post more on his campaign tomorrow.

The field for candidates seems to be set so I removed some of the choices from the poll. Previous polls included Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, Moorpark Council Member Keith Millhouse ( if he switched parties), and California Superintendendt of Education Jack O'Connell.

Although the races for Sheriff , the Democratic nomination in the 35th State Assembly District and for Supervisor from Thousand Oaks will likely generate the most excitement I plan to cover the congressional primary often and with great detail. I don't know which of the three candidates I am going to vote for yet and that makes it interesting to me too.

( Here is Tim Allison saying discussing his support for Barack Obama.)

The 24th Congressional District Primary is now between Tim Allison, Marie Panec, and Shawn Stern. Tim Allison has by far been campaigning the hardest of the three by adding staff members, attending events, and announcing endorsements. Marie Panec is running quietly for the time being but with the June primary election fast approaching she has lost ground to Tim Allison. Shawn Stern has a large Facebook presence and a great website but I don't see how he is going to attract attention from primary voters if something doesn't change.

If Shawn Stern or Marie Panec wins the primary can we expect them to run with the needed intensity for general election campaign?

Click on continue reading for the latest press release announcing more endorsements for Tim Allison.

You can go to their websites to see their endorsements for yourself:

Tim Allison

Marie Panec

Shawn Stern doesn't have his endorsements listed but I will post a link when he does.

This entry is for discussion, comments, or feedback on my interview with Marie Panec.

The interview entry above is just for our interview.

Click here for her website.

( Photo courtesy of Ventura County Democratic activist Sharon Hillbrant. Marie Panec holds the microphone. In the background congressional candidate Tim Allison speaks to Rep. Brad Sherman.)

Moorpark Professor and Oak Park School Board Member Marie Panec has officially announced she is running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 24th congressional district. The seat is currently held by Rep. Gallegly.

I have an interview scheduled with her on this blog coming up on Thursday, October 8th. Leave some suggested questions in the comments section and I would include some of them.

Click here for her campaign website. It is under construction but you can sign up for campaign newsletters there.

The poll questions below are obviously not scientific as they reflect the intensity of readers of this blog, not the average voter. Many of these are all ongoing polls started from earlier entries.

I had an interesting idea. I would like to see Rep. Capps and Rep. Gallegly debate healthcare for local citizens. They can meet in an area where many people from both districts can attend. I am sure they can find a venue and a moderator to host it. To be clear I am not interested in hosting or taking credit for the event. I just want to watch the debate.

Would you like to see them debate? Leave a comment or vote in my poll showing your support for this proposal. You don't need to register to vote or to leave a comment but keep it classy.

I have more videos and pictures to post later this week. If you have videos of pictures from today you want posted send them to me.

Former State Assembly candidate Ferial Masry has news regarding her intentions:

Candidate for Sheriff Geoff Dean (R) worked the crowd. Here he is speaking to Ventura City Council Members Brian Brennan and Ed Summers. I expect Geoff Dean's list of endorsements will be updated with new bipartisan additions soon.

I ran into a friend of this blog Denis O'Leary of Oxnard. Denis has been a long time activist for a variety of progressive causes.

State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan gave a speech that outlined her life story and the causes she supports. Her opponent Das Williams was there too. I will post his picture later. Das, if you have pictures from today you want posted send them in.

Here are a bunch of polls related to the labor day picnic and candidates that were there.

Click here for the news story from The Star.

Note: I bumped this to the top of my blog because this is the biggest annual Democratic event.

UPDATE: State Senator Fran Pavley, recently back from meeting with President Barack Obama, will be attending. Here is a photo of her meeting President Barack Obama:

Fran Pavley pushed through legislation that would have allowed California to set a different standard for new vehicles. Under President George W. Bush the EPA didn't allow the legislation to go into effect. But President Obama brought together environmentalists and automanufacturers together to agree on some changes that create higher federal standards. Her legislation started here in California but will be going into effect across the nation.

Click here for an article from Michael Collins explaining this in more detail.

The Ventura County Democratic Central Committee holds an annual Spring Fling Party to raise money for their organization and to have a good time. This event is great for aspiring candidates to meet with activists, get a quick introduction, and practice their stump speech.

There is room set out for those that want to put up a table to support their causes and candidates.

To purchase tickets, reserve space for a table, or to make sure your candidate is introduced click on continue reading for the contact information for the committee putting on the event.

This year they are also inviting all of the Democratic candidates for attorney general to speak. There will be opportunities to meet the candidates, ask them questions, and sign up to help their campaigns. I haven't yet confirmed the list of Attorney General candidates that will be there.

Candidates or elected officials I expect to be there ( beyond the attorney general candidates):

House of Representatives CA 24 ( Currently Gallegly)

Confirmed with me that they are attending:

Shawn Stern (Officially declared)
Marie Panec ( Possible candidate)
Tim Allison ( Possible candidate)

Haven't heard if she is attending:

Marta Jorgenson ( Officially declared)

Democrat Shawn Stern has a great looking website put together. I am sure more policy positions and future events will be posted in the coming months. He does know a way to drive up his google rank and to catch my attention is to post a link to this blog.

Shawn, thanks for the link on your website. Here is a return favor:

State Assembly 35th District ( Currently Pedro Nava)

Confirmed by me that they are attending:

Susan Jordan
"Absolutely. Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Das Williams
"organizing and participating with the local Democratic Party is the best way to move forward a progressive agenda."

Others:

Ventura City Council Member Ed Summers

Any other candidates that you have heard will be attending?