Rep. Elton Gallegly has scheduled a 4 p.m. EST news conference in Washington, presumably to announce that he has decided to seek re-election after all. If that's the case, he will find himself in a primary contest made considerably more difficult by the on-again, off-again events of the last week.

Some former Gallegly supporters in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties have already signed on with challenger Michael Tenenbaum, and Gallegly has handed Tenenbaum a great issue: Does the incumbent really want to represent you? Will he serve out his full term? Will he work hard for a final two years or will he mail it in?

Tenenbaum has already shown himself to savvy -- some in Ventura County are saying "calculating." It could get interesting.

At the same time, Gallegly has always been a dogged campaigner. Longtime supporter Peggy Sadler, a member of the Ventura County GOP Central Committee, offered this observation yesterday: "If he decides to go ahead with it, you know Elton: He's a campaigner, and he will run to win."