Mayor of Cerritos Says He Will Seek Seat of Retiring State Sen. Carpenter

Cerritos Mayor Don Knabe announced Tuesday that he will run in a special election early next year for the 33rd Senate District seat held by retiring Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Cypress).

Knabe, chief deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana, joins Assemblyman Wayne Grishman of Norwalk and Margaret Vineyard of Hawaiian Gardens as the only announced Republicans in the race. On the Democratic side, retired Municipal Judge Leon Emerson of Downey, Norwalk City Councilman Cecil Green and former Cypress Mayor Otto Lacayo announced their candidacies for Carpenter’s seat last month.

A special election will be called by Gov. George Deukmejian for late February or early March to replace Carpenter after he resigns his Senate seat. Carpenter was elected to the state Board of Equalization last month and has said he will resign from the Senate on Jan. 5, the day he begins his new job.

The 33rd District covers much of southeast Los Angeles County as well as Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, Los Alamitos and a portion of Garden Grove in Orange County.

Knabe, 43, said he has been endorsed by Orange County Supervisors Bruce Nestande and Roger R. Stanton as well as by the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a powerful Republican fund-raising group.