The 24th Congressional District covers a lot of Ventura County and Santa Barbara County in California. Since 1987, it's been represented in the House by a Republican named Elton Gallegly, who votes a pretty consistent G.O.P. line: Against stem cell research, against abortion rights, against gay rights, against Medical Marijuana, etc. On Iraq, he's been right there with the Bush Administration. This probably does not put him in accord with most of the voters he ostensibly represents, and some observers say his seat in Congress may be ripe for Democratic takeover.
Who's the Democrat who can take it over? Well, some of us are hoping it'll be Elliott Maggin. Some of you may know that name because you're comic book readers, and Elliott was a pretty prominent comic book writer back in the seventies and eighties, primarily on Superman and the many books featuring The Man of Steel. (He was credited then as "Elliott S! Maggin," with the exclamation point after the middle initial.) Elliott's a friend of mine and a darn smart guy. We've had some long and interesting discussions about government and society, and though we didn't always agree on everything, I've certainly respected his views, and I think he'd make a dandy Congressperson.
He ran once before…in the 1984 race for a seat in New Hampshire. He didn't win but that was then, this is now…and I'd like to think '08 will be his year. Here's a statement from Elliott to his "pop culture brethren," which I guess means "comic book readers." We'll be monitoring this race and though I don't live where I can vote for the guy, I'm going to do what I can to help out.