Congressional Race For Newly-Drawn 47th District Gets National Scrutiny
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — The national parties are keeping a close eye on the newly-drawn 47th Congressional District race out of Long Beach.
State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D) and Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong (R) are vying for the seat to represent the 47th Congressional District. Neither candidate is an incumbent.
Former president Bill Clinton appeared at a campaign event last week for Lowenthal, who says he is on record as an environmental advocate and education reformer.
"I think that I have an unparalleled record of success, regardless of who I'm running against. This district knows me well," Lowenthal said.
DeLong agrees that Lowenthal has a record – of only working with his own party.
"In fact, I saw a statistic just yesterday, saying that he voted with his party 99.5 percent of the time," DeLong said. "Candidly, I'm not going to vote with anybody 99.5 percent of the time. I'm just too independent."
The district's lines are newly drawn, split 40/60 between Orange County voters, who historically vote Republican, and Long Beach voters, who generally vote Democratic.
The split gives Lowenthal, the Democrat, an 11-point advantage.
