Davis’ Wife Cancels Visit; Schipske Supplies Reasons

A mysterious phone call. Threats of demonstrators. A potential security breach.

Those were the reasons Democratic congressional candidate Gerrie Schipske gave to explain why California First Lady Sharon Davis canceled an appearance at Schipske’s Sunday afternoon campaign event in Huntington Beach. But there were no pickets outside the event at the Chimayo at the Beach restaurant.

And the first lady’s staff said they knew nothing about any potential security breach--or mysterious phone calls. The governor’s wife didn’t appear, her spokesman said, because other plans bumped Schipske’s event off her schedule.

It’s a very different story from what Schipske and her staff told supporters. They spoke of a shadowy Arab American group phoning the Democratic Party to warn the first lady not to show up because anti-Schipske pickets would be out in force.

Schipske, who is trying to unseat Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) in the newly redrawn 46th District in the Nov. 5 election, cast the threatened demonstration and the first lady’s cancellation as a point of pride for her pro-Israeli stance.

“We are going to go ahead and have the event because I am not going to be bullied,” Schipske said as the $75-per-person fundraiser began. “But the primary concern is for the first lady’s safety.”

That came as news to Davis’ staff. “We didn’t know anything about protesters,” said Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesman for Davis. “It was true she wasn’t able to attend, but it was because there were conflicts in her schedule.”