While his competitors and outside groups have been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting other candidates in the 26th Congressional District race, Oxnard Harbor District Commissioner Jess Herrera has marshaled his relatively meager resources. Now, in the final week of the campaign, he's launched Spanish- and English-language web videos and radio ads in an attempt to break through all the advertising noise surrounding fellow Democrat Julia Brownley and independent Linda Parks.

To my knowledge, Herrera becomes the first candidate in this race to reach out to Latino voters with Spanish-language ads.

The radio ad features an upbeat campaign song, "Say Yes to Jess!" The lyrics are simple, but catchy:

We need a leader in Congress.
A leader like Jess.
We need a leader in Congress.
Let's all say Yes to Jess?

The web video, entitled "Homegrown Candidate," stresses Herrera's Oxnard roots and his role as a community leader. It begins with a pointed dig at Brownley, who only recently moved from Santa Monica to Oak Park. The opening scene is of the Santa Monica Pier, as Herrera says off-camera, "My home is not here."

It's difficult to assess Herrera's chances on Tuesday. He has a chance to perform well in Oxnard, where he has lived his entire life and has consistently been the leading vote-getter in elections for the Harbor District. In addition, he has been targeting working-class Latino voters in other areas of the district, notably Santa Paula and Fillmore. Depending on Latino turnout and how fractured the overall vote turns out to be, an upset may not be inconceivable. But at the very least, he has the potential to play the role of a spoiler, siphoning away from Brownley a share of the Democratic vote that she may need to outpoll Parks.

If nothing else, that would send an overwhelming message to Democratic Party officials in the district and statewide: Do not take Latino voters for granted in this new, highly competitive Ventura County district.