VENTURA : House Candidates Bring in Big Guns

As the race for a House seat representing most of Ventura County intensifies, the Democratic and Republican candidates brought in political heavy hitters to go to bat for them at fund-raisers Friday.

About 150 contributors attended a luncheon fund-raiser at the Harbortown Marina Resort in Ventura, spending from $50 to $250 a plate to support Democrat Anita Perez Ferguson of Oxnard. The keynote speaker was California Treasurer Kathleen Brown.

In Oxnard Friday night at the Mandalay Beach Resort, incumbent Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) hosted a $150-a-ticket fund-raiser that was attended by about 500 people, including John Gavin, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and a Ventura County native.

Gallegly and Perez Ferguson are running in the 23rd Congressional District, which includes Carpinteria and all of Ventura County except most of Thousand Oaks.

Former President Ronald Reagan videotaped remarks in support of the three-term congressman.

“He has been a friendly neighbor and has worked to bring prosperity to the area which he values greatly,” Reagan said in the 3 1/2-minute message.

He emphasized that Gallegly has lived in Ventura County for 25 years and “has never forgotten the people who elected him. He cares about you and your future.”

At the Democratic event, Brown said that “voters will be looking at candidates who represent change,” such as Perez Ferguson.

Brown--who, like Perez Ferguson, is an abortion-rights advocate--took a swipe at Gallegly’s antiabortion position. Perez Ferguson, she said, “is solidly pro-choice. . . . Her opponent is not even multiple-choice.”

Brown told reporters she felt a Republican crossover vote “will really help” Perez Ferguson. She said it would be partly fueled by the abortion issue. Women have for too long “been on the outside looking in,” she said.