Veteran actor Peter Strauss, best known for leading roles in television mini-series ("Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Masada," for example) won't be going to Congress next year.
Strauss, who spends much of his time these days growing citrus on his Ventura County ranch, toyed with seeking the Democratic nomination in the 24th Congressional District, which has been represented by Republican Elton Gallegly for the past two decades. But he says that he was turned off by the millions of dollars it would take to mount a serious run.
"Upon closer examination the landscape, that lay before me was dour indeed." Strauss said in a letter published last week in the Ojai Valley News. "In fact, it appeared completely compromised. What first sobered me was the amount of money I would have to raise... And therein was a dilemma: how does one accumulate that much money and not owe someone - somewhere - something? Isn't that the fundamental conflict of democratic principles?"
Strauss' departure doesn't mean Gallegly will go unchallenged. Marta Jorgensen, who lost to Gallegly in 2008, is preparing to run again and several other Democrats have declared interest.
Although the district in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties has a comfortable Republican voter registration margin, Democrats have been intrigued by its possibilities. President Barack Obama shaded Republican John McCain there last year, even as Gallegly was winning re-election by a nearly 3-2 margin.
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