Elton Gallegly
Encyclopedia
Elton William Gallegly is the U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for , and previously the 23rd and 21st, serving in Congress since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

.

Early life, education, and pre-congressional career

Born in Huntington Park, California
Huntington Park, California
Huntington Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, down from 61,348 at the 2000 census.- History :...

 on March 7, 1944, Gallegly graduated from high school and attended California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...

 but did not graduate. He worked as a real estate broker
Real estate broker
A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...

 before entering politics. Gallegly is a former member of the Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...

 City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

. He became Simi Valley's first elected mayor in 1982, a position that he held before the House.

Elections

In 1986, incumbent Republican U.S. Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler
Bobbi Fiedler
Bobbi Fiedler is a former U.S. Representative from California who made a name for herself as a strong opponent of forced busing.-Biography:...

 decided to retire to run for the U.S. Senate. Gallegy won the primary with 50% of the vote. In the general election, he won with 68% of the vote. He won re-election in 1988 with 69% and in 1990 with 58%. In 1992, he defeated Democrat activist Anita Perez Ferguson
Anita Perez Ferguson
Anita Perez Ferguson, born in 1949 in Santa Barbara, California, is a speaker, author and international consultant.She has a BA in Communications from Westmont College , an MA in Counseling Psychology from the University of Santa Clara, and an MA in Management from the University of...

 54%-41%. Since then, he won re-election with at least 58% of the vote, except in 2000. That year, he defeated Democrat Michael Case 54%-41%.

2006
On March 10, 2006, Gallegly announced his intent to retire from the House of Representatives after the 2006 mid-term elections, citing health concerns. He had already filed nomination papers to seek another term, however, and attempted to have his name removed from the Republican primary ballot. California election law, though, makes it clear that a candidate's name can only be withdrawn in the case of their death and, as a result, that Gallegly's name would have to remain on the ballot. The following week, after learning that he could not have his name removed from the ballot and that no new challengers would be allowed to enter the race, Gallegly changed his mind and decided to seek what he said would be his final term. He won re-election with 62% of the vote.

2008
Gallegly won re-election with 58% of the vote.

2010
Gallegly won re-election with 60% of the vote.

The top 5 groups or industries that have contributed cash to Representative Gallegly's 2009/2010 campaign are:
(1) Retirees: $39,484
(2) Real Estate: $35,578
(3) Lawyers/Law Firms: $29,374
(4) Pharmaceuticals: $22,500, and
(5) Crop Production/Processing $20,179.

Tenure

Representative Gallegly’s most recent activism has been focused on the issue of animal rights. Gallegly himself wrote a bill, enacted in 1999, which made it a federal crime to sell videos of dogfights and other depictions of animal violence. However, on April 20, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States, in an 8-1 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, overturned Gallegly's law on the ground that the law violated the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, and created a "criminal prohibition of alarming breadth."

In his defense, Representative Gallegly argued that the bill he wrote contained "exceptions for religious, political, scientific, educational, journalistic, and artistic expression [that] may have provided too many loopholes within the legislation. Bob Stevens was convicted of committing animal cruelty as defined by the law, but claimed that his rights to free speech and artistic expression protected him against prosecution." Representative Gallegly objected to Stevens’ defense, claiming that the videos “promote violence and, as such, are not protected by the Constitution.”.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Foreign Affairs (Vice Chair)
    • Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia
    • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
      United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
      The House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere is a subcommittee within the House Foreign Affairs Committee.-Jurisdiction:The subcommittee is one of five with what the committees calls "regional jurisdiction" over a specific area of the globe...

  • Committee on the Judiciary
    United States House Committee on the Judiciary
    The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...

    • Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law
    • Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement (Chairman)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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