Local News in Brief : Countywide : Knabe Starts Campaign With Attacks on Green

Cerritos City Councilman Donald Knabe started his campaign for the state Senate Tuesday, immediately taking aim at the man he hopes to unseat, Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk).

Dismissing Green as a cog in the Democratic machine, Republican Knabe criticized him for recently voting against the nomination of Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) as state treasurer. Asserting that he would do a better job of representing the interests of the 33rd Senate District than Green is doing, Knabe, 44, said he would work for anti-drug and pro-education legislation, as well as programs to reduce traffic gridlock.

This is Knabe’s second campaign for the 33rd Senate District seat, which represents the Orange County communities of La Palma, Cypress, Buena Park and Los Alamitos, as well as several cities in Los Angeles County. He was briefly a candidate in the district’s special election last year, only to withdraw to avoid a Republican primary fight with Assemblyman Wayne Grisham (R-Norwalk). Grisham was later defeated by Green in the most expensive Senate campaign in state history.

Knabe, who is chief of staff for Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana, is stepping down from the Cerritos council in April, when his second term expires.

Knabe is expected to have primary competition from Republican Maggie Vineyard, a former Hawaiian Gardens councilwoman and a 1984 state Senate contender, who has said she intends to run again.