Posted on 03/16/2006 12:32:48 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
Congressman reverses decision not to seek reelection
By Daniel Wolowicz danielw@theacorn.com
U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (RSimi Valley) shocked the county's political community with his announcement last week not to seek reelection for the 24th District's Congressional seat-a post he's held for 10 terms and nearly 20 years. But he changed his mind yesterday.
Gallegly said his initial decision to withdraw was made due to health problems. His withdrawal from the race, however, turned out to be short-lived.
In a press release on Monday Gallegly said, "If the remedies I am currently seeking do not resolve my concerns, I will look for input from my family, my supporters and the party leadership as to what further options may be viable to ensure fairness to the voters of the 24th Congressional District."
Because Gallegly made the announcement at the end of business hours on Fri., March 10- the deadline for filing-no additional candidates could submit their names for consideration. Gallegly's name will appear on the June primary ballot despite his earlier attempt to withdraw from the race.
"I am unilaterally reopening the process," Gallegly said in yesterday's press release. "Those who wish to run for the 24th Congressional District seat . . . have two years to gear up their campaigns. I fully intend to run a vibrant campaign to win reelection in June and in November, and will represent my friends and neighbors for the next two years. . . . I will not, however, seek reelection in 2008."
Gallegly said he initially decided against seeking reelection because of an undisclosed medical problem for which he had taken medical tests.
"Unfortunately, I did not receive results before the filing deadline," he said in yesterday's press release. "Not wanting to begin a race with such uncertainty, I moved on removing my name from consideration."
According to earlier reports, Gallegly knew for two weeks before his public announcement last Friday that he planned to withdraw his candidacy. During that time, he reportedly informed both his aide Brian Miller and Simi Valley Mayor Pro Tem Glen Becerra of his decision, giving both the chance to run for his seat. Gallegly formerly served on the Simi Valley City Council.
Before he knew that Gallegly had reversed his reelection decision, Becerra said it was tempting to run, but the time it takes to commute between California and Washington, D.C., would have been too much for him and his family.
"It's no secret that the Congressional seat was something that I had been looking at a long, long time, but I also have always said that the timing had to be right both politically and for my family to make a decision like this," Becerra said. "It may have seemed like the perfect time politically, but it wasn't the right time for my family."
Becerra is married and has two children-Elizabeth, 10, and Nicolas, 7.
Gallegly's last-minute decision last week frustrated several highprofile area Republicans who might have challenged for the seat if they'd known earlier of his intent to withdraw.
"If he would have just communicated with the district that he wasn't going to (run), there would have been a lot of people who would have stepped forward," said former state Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks).
Strickland said he was in Riverside campaigning for state controller when he heard the news. His wife, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), attempted to draw candidacy papers for him from the county clerk's office at the last minute, but she wasn't able to do so.
"(Assemblywoman Strickland) couldn't take papers for (Tony Strickland) because he's already a candidate in another race, and he couldn't withdraw from the race that he was candidate for," Ventura County Clerk Philip Schmit said.
Although there were reports that Assemblywoman Strickland asked to draw papers for herself, her husband said, "My wife . . . has no interest whatsoever in running for Congress."
Gallegly said he made the lastminute decision to withdraw not because he wanted to keep candidates from filing, but because he thought the filing period would be extended.
"I'd been assured by legal counsel that upon my withdrawal, the filing period would be extended for other candidates to file," Gallegly said in the press release. "That was confirmed by the county clerk on Friday morning. Later on Friday, when I formally asked for my name to withdrawn, only then was I told by the county clerk that he'd made a mistake."
Schmit disputes that claim.
"I'm not going to get into a 'he said, she said' argument with him, but I never spoke with Elton on Friday," Schmit said. "I don't know if any of my staff down in the Election's Office did, but I'd made a phone call to the person that had called me originally within . . . an hour, an hour and a half, and I told that person it was erroneous information and that he could not withdraw."
Officials in the Election's Office said they hadn't spoken to anyone in the congressman's office on Friday regarding whether or not his withdrawal would result in a five-day filing extension.
As it stands now, Rev. Jill Martinez, a Presbyterian minister from Oxnard, is the only Democrat on the ballot. Michael Tenenbaum, 37, an attorney and T.O. resident, is the other Republican candidate running for the Congressional seat. Tenenbaum said he was shocked by Gallegly's initial decision not to run. He must have been equally surprised by Gallegly's most recent decision that he will, indeed, seek relection after all.
Before he knew that Gallegly had reversed his reelection decision, Becerra said it was tempting to run, but the time it takes to commute between California and Washington, D.C., would have been too much for him and his family.
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Oh, no....."I decided not to seek reelection before I decided against it..."
"(Assemblywoman Strickland) couldn't take papers for (Tony Strickland) because he's already a candidate in another race, and he couldn't withdraw from the race that he was candidate for," Ventura County Clerk Philip Schmit said."
Confusion Over Gallegly Persists Local Support May Crumble,
By David M. Drucker, Roll Call Staff(snip)
But not everyone is backing up Gallegly’s version of events.
Ventura County Recorder-Clerk Philip Schmit confirmed that Gallegly’s attorney called his office at 11:35 a.m. Friday inquiring if the Congressman could withdraw his name from the ballot. Schmit acknowledged that he incorrectly said he could, but said he left a message with Gallegly’s attorney an hour later with the correct information — that he could not.
That doesn’t necessarily jibe with this portion of Gallegly’s statement, released Monday: “Later on Friday, when I formally asked for my name to be withdrawn, only then was I told by the county clerk that he had made a mistake.”
Also, Gallegly said in his statement that “my representatives are also working with the Secretary of State’s Office to seek legislative relief from the California Legislature.” But a secretary of state source said Tuesday that no one associated with Gallegly has been in contact with either the executive or elections divisions of McPherson’s office.
And although Gallegly had cited a medical condition as his reason for announcing his retirement, the House Republican aide said the Congressman has since been given a clean bill of health by doctors.
It is in our interest to let this one slide, and let Elton win a final term - at this point, he's merely keeping the seat "warm" for McClintock or Strickland.
Sounds like he just can't pop himself off the taxpayer teat.
Actually, he wanted to retire, but he botched the timing of his announcement, so that there wasn't any replacement candidate on the ballot. He really didn't have much choice but to reverse himself.
Yeah, I know. But the stench will be his legacy, imo.
According to http://www.politicaldogfight.com
Gallegly will face lawyer Michael Tenenbaum in the June 6 GOP primary. Tenenbaum, 37, planned to challenge Gallegly from the outset and has criticized the incumbent’s record on fiscal policy.
According to http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/vcs/dennert/archives/2006/03/breaking_news.html#more
March 15, 2006 - ...
I believe I am the first with the full Tenenbaum Bio. I don't know who sent it to me, but I confirmed that this is the real deal. Are you wondering who is running against Gallegly?What part of his background stands out to the most? His accomplishments seem very impressive, especially for his age. I see a huge resume, but I still don't know from what wing of the Republican Party he comes from. If anyone can fill us in on those details let me know.
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word for word from the campaign piece.
MICHAEL TENENBAUM'S CANDIDATE PROFILE
Michael has deep roots in the 24th Congressional District, which includes most of Ventura County and the northern part of Santa Barbara County, California. Michael's education, his strong commitment to public service, his impressive professional experience, and his solid Republican credentials make him an ideal candidate to represent the community's interests in Washington.
FAMILY ROOTS IN VENTURA COUNTY
Michael's family settled in Thousand Oaks in 1976 and continues to live in the community to this day. Michael's father was a survivor of the Holocaust who was liberated from the Dachau concentration camp by the 42nd Rainbow Division of the U.S. Army. After his father died when Michael was just eight years old, Michael's mother worked to raise Michael and his two brothers. Throughout his youth, Michael also worked at countless jobs to help his single mom support the family, from mowing lawns to managing a movie theater. Michael's mom continues to live in the family home Michael renovated for her after paying off the mortgage.
Michael's younger brother is a doctor living in Newbury Park with his wife and Michael's two nephews. His youngest brother serves his country as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, navigating a reconnaissance aircraft to gather intelligence on our enemies around the world.
EDUCATION
All candidates talk about the value of education, but Michael embodies that value. Michael attended public elementary, junior high, and high school in Thousand Oaks, where he graduated first in his class as Valedictorian. Michael went on to study Economics at UCLA, where he earned a degree in just three years first in his class again with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Michael then went on to graduate, with honors, from Harvard Law School.
...
PUBLIC SERVICE AND COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
Michael has been dedicated to serving his community by prosecuting crime, promoting the arts, and encouraging the highest ethical standards in his profession. Michael has volunteered as a Deputy District Attorney and has prosecuted at least ten criminal cases, ranging from drunk-driving to double-murder. Michael served as the youngest President of the Board of Governors of the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Civic Arts Plaza Foundation.
Michael was elected by his peers to represent a district 40,000 lawyers as a director of the California Young Lawyers Association. Michael also serves on the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Ethics of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Michael works as a businessman and lawyer in southern California and as a visiting professor of American and international business law in Europe. Having started his career advising Fortune 500 companies as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, Michael today works with promising entrepreneurs to help build their businesses. As a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell and in his own practice, Michael has worked on an array of complex cases involving matters of federal law, including antitrust, employment, intellectual property, and public securities matters. Michael has taught courses on the American legal system at the University of Paris and recently taught international business law at INSEAD, the leading business school for MBAs in Europe.
SOLID REPUBLICAN CREDENTIALS
Michael is a lifelong Republican inspired to public service by Ronald Reagan. His first political experience was in high school as a volunteer for Tom McClintock when the now-State Senator was campaigning for State Assembly. Michael is an appointed member of the Republican State Central Committee and attends the California Republican Party conventions. Michael is a member of the Leadership Council of the Republican Jewish Coalition and is an alternate member of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee.
http://www.flashreport.org/commentary0b.php?postID=2006031301395738
CD24: Gallegly's selfish maneuver is Tenenbaum's good fortune...
3-13-2006 6:39 am...
picture of Michael Tenenbaum
Let’s start with attorney Michael Tenenbaum..., an attorney in his mid-30’s who has spent the last year-or-so getting involved with Republican politics in Ventura County. He grew up in the area, graduated top of his class at UCLA, went on to get his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School, and has been very successful in business. Why is this important? Well, Tenenbaum, whom I met briefly at the State GOP Convention in San Jose a few weeks ago (sporting a new State Central Committee appointment from Ventura County GOP Chairman Leslie Cornejo, a reward for being a hard worker) decided that he was going to run for Congress – against the local GOP incumbent, Elton Gallegly! Apparently Tenenbaum was unhappy with Gallegly…or just felt he could do a better job…
...
...
In the meantime, Michael Tenenbaum isn’t wasting any time, with providence having given him a huge leg-up on any competition, and even if the Congressman were to run, his statements and actions last week severely damage his reputation. I spoke at length with Tenenbaum yesterday. He already has signed up veteran political consultant Dave Gilliard to run his campaign. He has said that he is willing to put some of his own resources into a run, but that he is not a self-funder. Tenenbaum certainly comes across as a fiscal hawk – sharing with me his frustration with the vast increase in federal spending in Washington under Republican rule. He mentioned conservative Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona several times as someone he admires. Tenenbaum is an impressive guy, who strikes me as a very thoughtful, intellectual and libertarian fellow. We spoke on issues for a while, and he is quite conservative fellow (though he did say on the abortion issue that he would ‘not criminalize abortion’ – we didn’t really get into that any further on this call). Tenenbaum is definitely a credible candidate ....
Tenenbaum is certainly drawing some early supporters into his corner. Orange County Congressman Ed Royce is said to be pretty supportive (Gilliard’s coming on board are signs of Ed’s fingerprints), and I spoke with veteran political strategist (and local resident) Arnie Steinberg who has been speaking with Tenenbaum. Larry Greenfield, the State Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition is very enthusiastic about Tenenbaum’s candidacy. Probably the most significant support that Tenenbaum enjoys is from Leslie Cornejo, Chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party, to whom I spoke yesterday. She told me she is planning on sending out a letter urging Republicans in her county to unify behind Tenenbaum’s candidacy.
My final thoughts on this matter – unless Elton Gallegly decides to run pretty hard for re-election, or some activist judge actually allows more candidates to file – newcomer Michael Tenenbaum is well positioned to become a Congressman. Gallegly’s selfish and clumsy handling of this situation will always be remembered as his legacy.
Could be interesting, despite the low chances of his getting the nomination against the incumbent, to see if he actually thinks conservatively or if he's only sounding conservative to win votes, especially if he's only been involved in politics for a year.
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