Schipske Won’t Contest Horn’s House Victory

Democratic candidate Gerrie Schipske said Wednesday she would not contest election results showing that Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Horn had defeated her in the race for the 38th Congressional District.

The lawyer and nurse-practitioner said she will run again for Congress in 2002 but is waiting to see the effect of reapportionment on local district boundaries next year.

Horn won a fifth term and beat Schipske by 1,788 votes, less than 1% of the vote in the district, which encompasses the Long Beach, Lakewood and Downey areas.

Since election night, Horn had maintained a slim lead, but until Tuesday, when the final vote count was published, Schipske had hoped that ballots counted latemight push her into the lead. Earlier Schipske had said she would not rule out calling for a recount if the results were close.

Schipske thanked the several hundred volunteers who operated her grass-roots efforts and urged her supporters to follow the words of cowboy Will Rogers: “We come here for just a spell and then pass on. So get a few laughs and do the best you can. Live your life so that whenever you lose, you are ahead.”

For now, Schipske said, she will remain a part-time faculty member at Cal State Long Beach. She will also focus her energy on the Nurse Patient Advocates Network, a consulting business she runs to educate registered nurses and “regular people” about patient rights.