COUNTYWIDE : Clayman Abandons Congressional Bid

Kenneth I. Clayman, Ventura County’s public defender, said Sunday that he will not run for Congress this year because the time it would take to assemble a winning campaign would interfere with his responsibilities as a single father of two teen-age sons.

“I absolutely became convinced that I could raise the money and win the primary,” said Clayman, who publicly raised the idea of his candidacy a week earlier.

“But the time commitment would have been enormous, and my family would have suffered.”

Clayman, 50, lives in Camarillo with his sons, ages 14 and 19.

He runs the county public defender’s office, which handles criminal defendants who cannot afford private attorneys.

Although he said he has dreamed of serving in Congress since he was in the sixth grade, Clayman said he is delighted to remain the county’s public defender, a position he has held for eight years.

“It’s a wonderful job, and I love having it,” Clayman said.

“Not that many people are that lucky.”

So far, Anita Perez Ferguson, a Santa Barbara educational consultant, is the only declared Democratic candidate in the 23rd Congressional District, which encompasses Carpinteria and all of Ventura County except Thousand Oaks.

Kevin Sweeney, an environmental activist and former public affairs director of the Ventura-based clothing manufacturer Patagonia Inc.,said he is reconsidering the race.

Sweeney, a Democrat, said he may make an announcement as soon as today about challenging Ferguson in the Democratic primary in June.

The Democratic nominee would face Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) in the November election.

The three-term congressman has positioned himself as the incumbent of the 23rd District since Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) decided to move to San Luis Obispo County to avoid a GOP primary battle with Gallegly.

The two congressmen were tossed into the same district under the state Supreme Court’s new congressional and legislative maps.