15 Facts About Elton Gallegly

Elton William Gallegly was born on March 7,1944 and is a former US Representative from California.

Elton Gallegly previously represented the 23rd and 21st Districts, and served from 1987 to 2013.

Elton Gallegly worked as a real estate broker before entering politics.

Elton Gallegly is a former member of the Simi Valley, California City Council.

Elton Gallegly became Simi Valley's first elected mayor in 1982.

On March 10,2006, Elton Gallegly announced his intent to retire from the House of Representatives after the 2006 mid-term elections, citing health concerns.

Elton Gallegly had already filed nomination papers to seek another term and attempted to have his name removed from the Republican primary ballot.

Elton Gallegly's activism has focused on the issue of animal rights.

Elton 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, which enabled people to profit from animal cruelty.

In 2011, Elton Gallegly voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

Elton Gallegly was a supporter of gifted and talented education, having introduced the Gifted and Talented Students Act of 1998 to provide funding for gifted education.

Elton Gallegly is married to the former Janice Shrader and has four children.

The Elton and Janice Gallegly Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement at California Lutheran University is a non-partisan center named in his honor, however Gallegly later sued the university for breach of contract pertaining to the facility.

In January 2012, it was reported that Elton Gallegly received so-called "VIP" or "Friends of Angelo" loans from troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, in which loans were granted at lower rates than were available to the public.

Elton Gallegly denied knowing that he was part of Countrywide Financial's special loan program.