Go Enter ZIP code or state abbreviation. Now in his seventh term representing a mainly suburban portion of Ventura County north of Los Angeles, Gallegly has never had what could be called a close general election contest. And in both 1996 and 1998, he won by margins of more than 20 percentage points. Real estate lawyer Michael Case is a political newcomer, but he is confident that he can make a run at Gallegly.
Case is well known within the district's legal community.
He is a founding partner of Ferguson, Case, Orr, Paterson and Cunningham, a large law firm in Ventura, and is the current president of the Ventura County Bar Association. Still, Case's fight could only be described as uphill. 1992 nominee Anita Perez Ferguson, a school teacher and feminist activist who raised half a million dollars for that campaign, lost by 54-41 percent and later headed the National Women's Political Caucus. Yet, at least on paper, the 23rd District is not exactly a Republican bastion. Democrats even have a 41-40 percent advantage over Republicans in voter registration, though Gallegly typically has prevailed among the 18 percent of district voters who are affiliated with no party.