First One-on-One Forum in 47th Congressional Race

The new Long Beach-Orange County 47th Congressional District race has been heating up in the days before Wednesday's candidate forum at the Long Beach Rotary Club aboard the Queen Mary.

But Democrat Alan Lowenthal and Republican Gary DeLong will attend the first one-on-one candidate forum since the race for the newly created U.S. House of Representatives seat began.

DeLong's campaign e-mail called it a debate, but the format of the gathering is not clear. Prior forums and online townhalls have had questions screened and pre-submitted, creating a less spontaneous exchange.

In his latest swipe at Lowenthal, DeLong blames Lowenthal, a former two-term Long Beach city councilman who lives in Bluff Park, for much of what ails Sacramento. Will DeLong, himself a two-time Long Beach city councilman, who lives by Cal State Long Beach, be asked whether he should thus be responsible for the city's ongoing deficit or its understaffed police department?

Will Lowenthal accuse DeLong to his face of planting lies in the form of a telephone poll last month, for which it formally complained to election authorities? Will DeLong in person repeat his campaign e-mail of last week? It read, in part, that "Senior citizens don't support a candidate like Alan who supports transferring over $500 Billion away from Medicare, which is already struggling financially."

How will DeLong respond to Lowenthal campaign consultant Mike Shimcrock's remark on the above? It reads, "Alan is happy to meet with the Rotary Club to offer a positive vision of how he plans to change Washington, and to refute the lies Gary DeLong and the Republicans in Congress are spreading. Hopefully DeLong will finally give a straightforward answer as to why he sides with the insurance companies, oil companies, and Republicans in trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and tax cuts for the middle class, all to benefit big corporations and more tax cuts for billionaires."

Patch will have the story, so check back later Wednesday.