Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong got a big boost earlier this week in his race for the hearts and minds of West Orange County Republicans. The November general election could very easily come down to Long Beach republican DeLong verses Long Beach Democrat Alan Lowenthal.
Late last year, current Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar entered the race for the 47th Congressional seat. In circumstances which normally happen only when a member of congress retires, the race is wide open. Thanks to redistricting, there is no incumbent. Previous West OC U.S. Representative Ed Royce, is not running in our district, so as far as West OC is concern, he is out of the picture.
Until this week, Troy Edgar, the only candidate from east of the 605 Freeway, thought he had a shot at making it to the November general election, because of how the demographics are spread out. The new district has more people in Long Beach than in Orange County, but more than half of the district’s registered Republicans are in OC. Edgar thought being the only OC Republican in the race, he could win a second place finish against Democrat Lowenthal.
Apparently, Edgar changed his mind, much to the delight of Gary DeLong.
“Troy was a formidable competitor,” DeLong told OC180NEWS yesterday. “So, it kind of gives me a free pass in the primary. But, I’m not going to take it for granted, I’m still going to go out and work hard.”
There is one other candidate, Republican insider Steve Kuykendall. He is also from Long Beach. Districtwide, Democrats have about a ten percent advantage in registered voters. So, with only one Democrat in the race, there’s a pretty good chance Lowenthal will make it to the November general election. He will be opposed by the number two vote getter – either DeLong or Kuykendall.
“It’s definitely Alan [Lowenthal] and I,” DeLong told OC180NEWS. “That was always the case, now it’s just little more certain.”
West OC voters might begin to wonder if we will be left out of the Long Beach dominated race. This is the first time West OC has shared our congressional representative with voters on the other side of the county line. Now, with all three candidates coming from Long Beach, the political landscape looks even more westward.
“I don’t think it’s all about Long Beach,” DeLong said. “Troy and I were splitting the Orange County elected officials endorsements, so I’m doing even better in Orange County then I was before.”
Troy Edgar isn’t riding off into the political sunset. Rather, he is running for the 72 State Assembly seat, which includes West OC., and, as might be imagined, DeLong and Edgar are endorsing each other.
“I strongly support Gary DeLong in his race for the 47th Congressional District. As a small business owner, Gary knows what needs to be done to get our economy moving again and will represent Orange County well.”
Troy Edgar
And, the feelings are mutual:
“I’ve enjoyed getting to know Mayor Troy Edgar on the campaign trail. He is a dedicated public servant and I wish him well in his race for the 72nd Assembly District. Troy has a well-earned reputation for smaller government and protecting taxpayers.”
Gary DeLong
Our conversation yesterday with DeLong was about the election, rather than a substantive discussion of the issues. Nevertheless, he gave us a peek inside his political leanings as he attempts to walk the line between the die hard no-taxes-under-any-circumstances right wing, and the tax-them-to-death lefties.
“I think we need to get to a balanced budget as quickly as possible,” DeLong told OC180NEWS. “I think we need to do that in two ways. We need to reduce the cost of government, but I don’t think we can cut all the way there. I think we need revenue growth.”
Not much to disagree with there. The trick, of course, is from where the new revenue will come.
“In my mind, new revenue doesn’t necessarily equate to new taxes.” Said DeLong. “After we’ve done everything we possibly can, sure, I would certainly look at new taxes, but you’ve got to do the other things first.”
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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