There is a congressional race in the San Gabriel Valley

The SGV is, for the most part, divided into congressional districts that are so uncompetitive that there are few serious candidates for office besides the incumbent party's candidate.

That said, this week we'll be taking a look at Russ Warner, who is challenging David Dreier, R-San Dimas, for his seat.

Dreier has easily won re-election every year since his original election in 1980, and there isn't any strong evidence that suggests that Warner, a local businessman, can knock him off.

However, Warner has raised a lot of money ($522,000) and has loaned his campaign almost $200,000 more. That's enough to mount a serious campaign, and in a year where the country is leaning more Democratic he might be able to pull himself a little closer to Dreier than he otherwise would have.

Still, in a district that favored President Bush by a 55 to 44 percent margin in 2004, is not likely to kick out a Republican incumbent unless he does something notably foolish in the coming months. Dreier, who has been on the national stage for years, is not likely to do that.

Also, for what it is worth, the Warner campaign has conducted some internal polling that shows that McCain is leading Obama 47 percent to 44 percent in this election, suggesting the district is becoming more open to Democratic candidates. The poll puts Dreier up 49 percent to 37 percent, though it also states that Warner gets 44 percent of the vote to Dreier's 47 percent once respondents hear a "positive" biography of each candidate.

Their point is that Warner is unknown, and that if he were better known he could narrow Dreier's lead. Far be it from me to keep District 26 residents from knowing their candidates, so consider this our introduction of him.