Decision ’92 : SPECIAL VOTERS’ GUIDE TO STATE AND LOCAL ELECTIONS : CONGRESSIONAL RACES : District 23

Until redistricting this year, Ventura County was split almost equally between two congressional districts, with Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) representing the western portions and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) the eastern sections. The newly drawn district covers Carpinteria and nearly all of Ventura County. With most of Thousand Oaks, a Republican stronghold, outside the district, voter registration has tipped in favor of the Democrats. Anita Perez Ferguson is trying to become the first Democrat to represent Ventura County in the House of Representative since World War II.

Elton Gallegly

Age: 48

Party: Republican

Occupation: Congressman

Education: High school diploma. Attended Cal State Los Angeles for about one year.

Background: A resident of Simi Valley for 25 years, Gallegly was a real estate broker and small business man before entering politics full time. He was elected to the Simi Valley City Council in 1979 and was Simi Valley’s mayor from 1980 to 1986. Gallegly was first elected to Congress in 1986. He sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Interior and Insular Affairs committees.

Issues: An avowed conservative Republican, Gallegly has priorities that include restoring economic growth, cutting taxes, cutting government spending, balancing the budget and fighting crime and drugs. He supports the death penalty and opposes abortion except in instances of rape or incest or when a pregnant woman’s life is threatened. He supports exploratory drilling for offshore oil reserves to prepare for a national energy emergency. He views himself as a leading member of Congress seeking to staunch the flow of illegal immigrants across U.S. borders by toughening immigration laws. He has authored a package of immigration bills, including a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit newborn children of illegal immigrants from becoming citizens.

Anita Perez Ferguson

Age: 43

Party: Democratic

Occupation: Educator

Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications from Westmont College; master’s degree in counseling psychology from Santa Clara University, master’s degree in business management from Redlands University.

Background: Perez Ferguson moved to Oxnard from Santa Barbara this year so she could reside in the 23rd Congressional District. She is a vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Women’s Political Caucus and has been active in other women’s and Latino groups. She worked as a teacher, counselor and then administrator for small colleges near Boston and in Nairobi, Kenya, before returning to Santa Barbara to join the staff of state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara). She made her first bid for Congress in 1990, losing to Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura).

Issues: Perez Ferguson views herself as a moderate Democrat. She supports the death penalty and a balanced federal budget. She is a strong advocate of a woman’s right to choose abortion. She supports the free trade pact with Canada and Mexico, only if proper workplace and environmental safeguards are in place. She opposes offshore oil drilling and wants to push for affordable health care through a public-private partnership. She vows to replace welfare problems with workfare solutions by providing job training, education and hiring incentives to businesses.

Jay C. Wood

Age: 59

Party: Libertarian

Occupation: Educator

Education: Master’s degree in education from Pepperdine University.

Background: A Fillmore resident, Wood retired in 1984 after serving 20 years in the Navy with the Seabees, including tours of duty in Iceland, Spain and Greece. For five years before he retired, he was stationed at the Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme. Wood has taught technical subjects at Oxnard College and computer technology at Watterson College, also in Oxnard.

Issues: Wood supports Libertarian principles that government should not interfere with individual rights as long as individuals do not harm others. He wants an across-the-board tax reduction and minimal funding of government for national defense and select needs. He believes that government should get out of the health care business so that competition would force doctors to provide more efficient services. He thinks abortion should be a private decision on the part of a woman. He supports the free trade pact with Canada and Mexico. He attributes the continuing trend of lower voter participation to the public’s frustration with the lack of difference between major party candidates.

District 24

For more than a decade, Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) has represented the Westside of Los Angeles and parts of the San Fernando Valley. But now he is running in a newly drawn district that stretches into Thousand Oaks and has none of the Westside communities in which he has enjoyed strong support. Although the district has slightly more Democrats than Republicans, it is considered a swing district.

Anthony C. Beilenson

Age: 59

Party: Democrat

Occupation: Congressman

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College; law degree from Harvard Law School.

Background: A Woodland Hills resident, Beilenson has been a congressman since 1976. Previously, he spent four years as an assemblyman and 10 years as a state senator, authoring more than 200 state laws, including the first reform of the state’s abortion law in more than a century. As a U.S. representative, he sits on the House Rules and Budget committees and is the chairman of a task force on the budget. He is one of the few politicians who refuse campaign contributions from special-interest groups.

Issues: Beilenson calls himself moderate to liberal on social issues such as civil rights, but a conservative on fiscal matters. He is a recognized leader on environmental issues and authored the bill creating the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. He opposes offshore oil drilling. He supports abortion rights. He favors the death penalty in certain cases. He also supports legislation to control the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, including a constitutional amendment to disallow citizenship for the newborn of illegal immigrants.

Tom McClintock

Party: Republican

Occupation: Assemblyman

Age: 36

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA.

Background: A Thousand Oaks resident, McClintock was first elected to the Assembly in 1982. He is a member of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, Judiciary and Transportation committees and is vice chairman of the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee. Before being elected to the Assembly, he was an aide to state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita). He wrote a column for a Thousand Oaks newspaper and was chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party. He accepts special-interest PAC campaign contributions.

Issues: One of the state’s most conservative Republicans, his top priority is cutting government spending and taxes. On abortion, he opposes public funding and opposes the federal Freedom of Choice Act. He favors the North American Free Trade Agreement and supports legislation to control the flow of illegal aliens into the United States, including a constitutional amendment to disallow citizenship for the newborn of illegal immigrants. He believes offshore oil drilling should be an option. He supports the death penalty and was the author of a new law that gives a death-row inmate the choice between lethal injection or lethal gas.

John Paul Lindblad

Age: 40

Party: Peace and Freedom

Occupation: Architect

Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington; master’s degree in architecture from Texas A & M.

Background: A North Hollywood resident, Lindblad first ran for public office in 1990. He owns an architectural firm which designs residential and commercial health care facilities. Lindblad is on an American Assn. of Architects committee to preserve historical buildings. He also belongs to Fans of the Basin, a group attempting to halt the destruction of wildlife in the Sepulveda Basin.

Issues: Lindblad espouses a citizen-controlled grass-roots democracy and government run by consensus. He supports a socialized medical health plan similar to the one operating in Canada. He favors abortion rights. He wants to increase taxes on wealthy individuals in the top 2% income bracket and eliminate federal taxes on those making less than $35,000 a year. He supports fully funded public education and opposes the death penalty.