Long Beach City Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske (D) on Monday aborted her planned run for the 37th district seat left open by the death of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D).

Schipske said in a prepared statement released just hours before the deadline to file for the race that she dropped her plan to run after being implored by her constituents to remain on the council. Schipske ran for Congress in 2000 in the old 38th district, losing to then-Rep. Steve Horn (R) by just 1 point.

“I have been overwhelmed by phone calls and e-mails from Long Beach residents asking that I forgo my Congressional campaign so that I could continue what they referred to as the ‘good work’ I had begun over this past year,” Schipske said.

The overwhelmingly Democratic seat is scheduled to be filled via a June 26 open primary special election, with the two leading candidates now appearing to be state Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D) and state Assemblywoman Laura Richardson (D). Valerie McDonald (D), daughter of the late Congresswoman, also is planning to run.

If no candidate garners more than 50 percent of the vote in the June 26 primary, the top vote-getter from each party will advance to an Aug. 21 runoff.
— David M. Drucker