Now it really gets interesting.

Just as one leading Democrat exits the race for the U.S. 26th Congressional District, another one enters.

Supervisor Steve Bennett—the supposed front-runner in the newly drawn district that includes most of Ventura County and Westlake Village—withdrew his name from the race last week with the intention of keeping his job on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and not splitting the Democratic field in the congressional race. Three Democrats are already competing against leading Republican Tony Strickland: Moorpark City Councilmember David Pollock, Westlake Village businessman David Cruz Thayne and Oxnard Harbor District Commissioner Jess Herrera.

Now steps in Democrat Julia Brownley, a current Assembly member who represents the coastal region from Santa Monica to Oxnard and inland to Westlake and Oak Park. About 15 percent of Brownley’s 41st Assembly District falls in the new congressional district where she plans to compete.

Running for Congress is a bold but calculated move by Brownley, who lives in Santa Monica but plans to move to Oak Park to avoid being hit with a carpetbagger label. Constituents in Westlake, Agoura Hills and Calabasas know Brownley as a staunch liberal who backs government support for schools and the environment. Ventura County residents, except those in Oxnard and Port Hueneme, don’t know much about her at all, except that she has Santa Monica Democratic roots.

The question is whether Brownley is too liberal for the new 26th District, even though it has slightly more registered Democrats than Republicans. And then there’s the X factor, Linda Parks, the Thousand Oaks Republican who leans Democratic and might run as an independent. If Brownley jumps to the front as the leading Democrat and Strickland is the anointed Republican, where does that leave Parks in the newly formatted June primary—which will send the top two vote-getters, regardless of party—to the November main election?

In a three-horse race, one will be the odd man—or woman—out.

It will be interesting to see whether the environmentalists back Parks or Brownley and whether Strickland can shake the Linda Parks curse. She soundly defeated Strickland’s wife, Audra, in the 2010 race for county supervisor.

On Mon., May 7 at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, the Acorn Newspapers and CLU will host a debate for the candidates of the 26th Congressional District.

Stay tuned to these pages for more information about the event.