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?

( 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.

The new primary system in California is complicated. Instead of the June Primary election choosing the nominees for each party it will only be selecting the top two candidates who will then run in the November General Election.

The Ventura County based 25th Congressional District currently has 7 candidates running. 5 of them are Democrats and 2 of them are Republicans. Candidates can choose to state a preference or to list no preference. Republican Linda Parks has not announced what she is going to do.

it is possible that the November election for some positions will only have two candidates from the same party.

Democrat Steve Bennett released huge fundraising numbers to The Star. Tony Strickland also released impressive fundraising numbers. The strong financial support has made both of them frontrunners.

The same article reported that Steve Bennett, Hannah-Beth Jackson, and Fran Pavley all received the endorsement of the Democratic Party for the June election. In the new primary system I don't know exactly how that helps the candidates. Is there a promise of tangible support from the state or local party?

If you were a part of the process or understand the importance of the pre-primary endorsement please leave a comment explaining it. You don't need to register to comment.

Congratulations to Steve Bennett and the other candidates for earning the support of their party.

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.

Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett is the most recent Democrat to announce they are running for the new Ventura County based seat in the House of Representatives.

So far no Republicans have announced they are running. Rep. Elton Gallegly hasn't announced if he is retiring or if he runs what district he will run in. Many people assumed he will run in the Ventura County based district. But with his recent letter to the editor in a Santa Clarita newspaper maybe he is planning to run against Republican Buck McKeon. I don't think he will run at all. But I am just guessing.

Steve Bennett is expected to be a competitive candidate. He has years of experience in elected office and running for office. He has connections with environmental activists because of his leadership with SOAR. Local Democrats haven't had a candidate with substantial elected office experience running for Congress, now they have multiple strong candidates.

This is a great chance for Democrats to win another seat in the House of Representatives and their chances just increased by getting another strong candidate.

Click on continue reading for Steve Bennett's campaign announcement.

Ventura County Progressive activist Jay Kapitz is continuing to organize a coalition to reform how campaigns are funded. Here is his latest email:
Ventura County grassroots activists, community leaders and average citizens like you will be meeting to organize the local grassroots campaign for the California Fair Elections Act.
Would you like to get politicians out of the fundraising game so they stay focused on the job we elect them to accomplish?

Click on continue reading to see the meeting information and more details. I have seen Jay Kapitz work for other candidates and I know he is very talented at what he does. If you are interested in this issue email him or attend the meeting.

I like when elected officials hold public forums where voters can ask questions not filtered by the media and the average voter can attend. Events held in the middle of a work day at a Country Club with an admission charge do not count.

Jay Kapitz, a Barack Obama volunteer and a community activist, sent me an email with information on the upcoming community forum to discuss the landmark open space law known as SOAR.

Are you going to go? Anyone know if it is going to be televised? If it is, please post it on youtube for us.

Here is the email from Jay Kapitz:

Dear Friends:

You are invited to a meeting on Saturday, January 31, 2009, 10 AM to Noon, at the Oak Park Community Center regarding protecting the open space in Oak Park, the Conejo Valley and all of Ventura County.

Ventura County Supervisors Linda Parks and Steve Bennett will discuss the law known as SOAR -Save Open-Space and Agricultural Resources."

Currently the SOAR law is set to expire in less than 12 years. It protects us against development of the hillsides around Oak Park, Thousand Oaks and surrounding areas. There is currently a deed restriction prohibiting development around Oak Park by the Rancho Simi Park District, which owns the open space. This deed restriction will expire in a few years and that is a huge reason that SOAR is so important to anyone living in Oak Park. Similar issues are in play for Thousands Oaks.

Please attend this meeting. Come find out more about SOAR and how we can protect these and other open space areas that could be at risk for development.

Hope to see you there.

Jay Kapitz

The Ojai Post has a full story about Steve Bennett announcing he is running for re-election to the Board of Supervisors.

I did past blog entries on Steve Bennett that you can read for background information.

Update #1

Update #2

Has any potential rival candidate stepped forward? I hear rumors of Mike Osbourn of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee thinking about running, but I also hear rumors he is thinking about the Ventura City Council. Mike, I guess people like making up rumors that you are running for things.

Here is a link to Steve Bennett's updated website.