DeLong Eyes Run for Congress

Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong said Thursday that he will run for U.S. Congress in 2012 should the redistricting committee redraw boundaries to put the city in one district. 

"If at the end of the redistricting process there is a competitive Long Beach seat, I'm running," DeLong said by e-mail.  "I look forward to the opportunity to bring fiscal sanity to Washington DC – the current approach of burdening future generations with more and more debt clearly will result in a reduced quality of life for American families.  We need to reverse course, the sooner the better."

The news first broke Thursday afternoon in the Press Telegram and then later on LBReport.com.

A redistricting committee has been weighing new boundaries for political representation and is expected to redraw official district maps by the end of July. Long Beach was long served  by late Congressman Steve Horn, former Cal State Long Beach president considered a moderate Republican who managed to appease both party members. His congressional district was subsequently extended into Orange County in turf currently represented by a more conservative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach). He was elected to Congress in 1989.

DeLong is serving his second Long Beach City Council term representing Belmont Shore, Naples, Belmont Heights, Park Estates, and other East side neighborhoods with a total population of about 50,000 residents.