By Doug Curlee

There is an active campaign for a house seat going on in the 53rd Congressional District, which encompasses much of this newspaper’s coverage area.

Unless you’re a big fan of political signs in yards and on power poles, you might not have noticed.

That tends to happen, especially if the congressional race next door in the 52nd District is sucking most of the air — and almost all of the available money — out of the political room.

The ongoing expensive and increasingly nasty battle between Rep. Scott Peters and former Councilmember Carl DeMaio is all over television and print. It’s inescapable.

Which means that the 53rd District race between Rep. Susan Davis (D) and Republican Larry Wilske has received little media attention; in fact, almost none.

Davis is a seven-term incumbent in the seat, and Wilske is a retired Navy SEAL command master chief — and a Mission Hills resident — making his first effort at elected office.

The differences between the two are very much what you’d expect, given their backgrounds and political affiliations.

Wilske’s website features endorsements almost exclusively from what would be considered the conservative right of the political spectrum.

Davis’s are from what would be seen as the liberal left.

But both candidates say they’re striving to appeal to the middle as much as possible.

“I’ve always been one to reach across the aisle to the other side,” Davis said. “I think that over the years, you tend to build connections and contacts that will allow things to get done. Sometimes those things don’t get much media attention, but they get done anyway. I don’t yell and scream about things like some do. I just try to sit down and talk. You’d be surprised how well that works, even in today’s Congress.”

What motivated Wilske to challenge a popular incumbent, especially in a district where that incumbent’s party enjoys a more than 50,000 voter registration advantage?

“I’m a patriot, first of all. I’m not a Tea Party tool, as some people have called me,” Wilske said. “I believe in getting things done by working with all people. What’s needed in Washington right now is leadership, and I just don’t see leadership coming from Susan Davis. If I learned anything over 30 years as a Navy SEAL with 14 combat deployments, it’s how to lead.”

Wilske is in a position where he has to attack Davis in order to gain traction. Davis, on the other hand, doesn’t see much reason to attack Wilske. In fact, in a half-hour interview for this story, she never once mentioned his name.

It’s worth noting that money is a factor here. The last reporting period showed $440,040 in her campaign account, with more coming if needed. Democrats will do what they need to do to protect this seat.

Wilske, at last report, had $145,946 in his account, much of it in the form of a $105,000 personal loan from himself to his campaign. In other words, he’s basically self-funded.

He is the candidate endorsed by the county Republican Party. I asked him how much campaign money came with that endorsement.

“Zero,” he said.

Wilske is in a steep, steep uphill battle, and he knows it.

So does his opponent.

—Contact Doug Curlee at [email protected].