23rd Congressional District

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) has been reelected to Congress six times. Handily.

A lot of the credit goes to Gallegly, who has a reputation among his constituents as a guy who gets thing done. He will point out that he has brought thousands of jobs and millions of dollars to the local economy, ranging from a new Simi Valley police station to airplanes at Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station.

It doesn’t hurt that he has $1 million in his reelection coffers.

Why should this year be any different? For one thing, the Democrats are taking the race seriously, putting money into a contest in which they’ve shown little interest in the past.

Second, the man carrying the Democrats’ banner is Michael Case, a lawyer with an agriculture background who has pumped more than $500,000 into the race. He has attempted to draw ideological differences between himself and Gallegly to gain votes in a district where the registration is split almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

The Times spoke with Case and Gallegly recently about the campaign and their stands on issues.

Question: What are the principal differences between you and Rep. Elton Gallegly?

Answer: We have a general difference in outlook on issues overall. Mr. Gallegly has been a strong supporter of big business throughout the time he’s been in Congress. And, while I’m a business lawyer who appreciates the current prosperity we enjoy, I think that the backbone of business is the working people and professionals who make it work. And I’m very interested in seeing that their fundamental needs are addressed: not only fair wages and safe working conditions, but access to a good, strong public education system, access to affordable health care, and a healthy environment for them and their children.

There are three related issues. One is what to do with the budget surplus, in which I’ve taken a different approach than Mr. Gallegly. And then there are guns and choice.

Q: Does your position on the budget surplus parallel that of Vice President Al Gore?

A: In general. I think we ought to take care of the national debt, Social Security and Medicare, including a prescription benefit, and get that set up first before we worry about what tax cuts to pursue.

When it comes to tax cuts, if we can get ourselves operating properly and can afford tax cuts that are targeted to the people who need them, then I think it makes sense. But my priorities are to take care of the other things first, and that’s where I’ve differed with a Republican agenda that wants to cut taxes first and then worry about the other.

Q: You’re running against a man who’s won reelection handily on several occasions in this district. How do you think you’re going to beat him?

A: Because I’m right on the issues. First, look at the district. It’s 40% Democrats, more or less, and 40% Republicans. It tends to have politics that are a little different from the rest of Ventura County. And that same electorate has elected Bill Clinton twice, Dianne Feinstein twice, Gray Davis by 12% in ’98 and Barbara Boxer, but by a very narrow margin.

And so your natural question to follow that is “Well, that’s true, but it also elected Elton Gallegly during those same elections.” And my answer to that is, “Yes, but the Democrats ran some fine people who were recognized, however, as token candidates.” Those candidates didn’t have campaign offices and staffs and only raised, at their best, maybe $35,000, and Mr. Gallegly spent in each of those at least $300,000. Plus he had the advantages of an incumbent.

Anybody looking at those races knew that the Democrat was doomed to lose. We are putting on a real campaign. That’s what distinguishes us from the others.

Q: Do you believe you can reach out to the Republicans in the district?

A: Yes, I can, and partly because our campaign is premised on just talking about what Mr. Gallegly’s record has been and what I stand for. That’s an important thing because Mr. Gallegly, who was once relatively clear about where he stood, has changed for the purpose of this election. He’s become very vague about where he stands so that voters might think when he talks that he is supporting their positions on the issues. And what we’re trying to do is to clearly state for the voters where each of us are.

The two clearest examples are probably guns and choice. And so part of our campaign is premised on saying, “Here are Mr. Gallegly’s positions.”

If that’s what the voters want more of, I’ll lose. On the other hand, I don’t think that’s what the majority want.

Q: I presume you’re pro-choice.

A: I am.

Q: How do you stand on gun control?

A: I’m a person who’s had guns in my past, grew up around them. I was in the Air Force, qualified with small arms. So I don’t see myself as a person who is personally afraid of guns, but I believe that the use of guns and the number of injuries and deaths has gotten to the state that we just have to make some sensible rules so that responsible people can have access to reasonable gun use and, at the same time, we cut down the number of injuries and deaths.

For example, I fully support the ban on having assault weapons in private homes. And one of the things that encouraged me to run in this race is that Mr. Gallegly has voted against it twice.

Secondly, I think we ought to have the same rules for purchasing guns at gun shows as gun stores.

And third, I have supported registering future purchasers of handguns and having to have a handgun license. I’m not in favor of national confiscation. I’m not in favor of prohibiting people from having handguns, but I think that we have to make sure that they’re in responsible, trained hands so that people know how to store them and care for them and what the basics are.

Q: Rep. Gallegly has made a reputation for himself by taking a tough stand on immigration. How do you feel about this country’s immigration policies?

A: I support enforcing the law. After all, I’m a lawyer, a former prosecutor. But I think his campaign against undocumented workers has gone over the top and it’s led to Latinos, whether they are documented or otherwise, feeling as though they are second-class citizens. That’s an unhealthy state of affairs.

The INS is not adequately processing all the people who are applying to be here legitimately and have a right to be here, so those applications or extensions are months, if not years, behind. So we have people who on the surface appear to be undocumented but who really are documented, or should be.

Secondly, I think we have to take into account, at least here in Ventura County, that we are a farming community and we need labor. And a lot of this labor has been provided, traditionally, by some of these people who have been undocumented. I think we’re going to have to square that away with what our needs are and the people who would like to be here to do that kind of work.

I can promise you’ll never see a photograph of me on the front page of your paper leading an early morning INS raid on Latino homes. Some of Elton Gallegly’s legislation would have led to punishing innocent children by denying them health care and education opportunity. And, in fact, he was even talking about changing the entire constitutional structure of immigration, which would preclude citizenship from people born here. I think he’s just gone way over the top.

Q: What do you find the voters’ greatest concerns are when you are out campaigning?

A: I hear a lot about education. People are concerned that affordable and available education is going to elude us if we’re not really careful. They want to see the education system improved and they would rather have their tax dollars spent wisely and, if they didn’t have tax reductions, they wouldn’t mind it if they got the education and the health care and the environment that they want.

It’s interesting because the people who seem to be most wealthy seem to be the most concerned about getting more money back. And the people who are less affluent are still talking about wanting the basics that every American wants. They’re also very concerned about housing. That’s an issue that hasn’t got as much play in this campaign as it deserves.