Knabe to Run for Sen. Green’s 33rd District Seat

Former Cerritos Mayor Don Knabe said Wednesday that he will run for the seat held by state Sen. Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk).

Knabe, chief deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana, will make it official at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Lakewood Country Club, 3101 E. Carson Ave., Lakewood. He has made it known for some time that he was seriously considering running in Green’s 33rd District.

Knabe, 44, had planned to run last year in a special election to fill out the term of Sen. Paul B. Carpenter (D-Norwalk), who resigned from the Senate after being elected to the State Board of Equalization. But Knabe stepped aside at the request of Gov. George Deukmejian to allow Assemblyman Wayne Grisham (R-Norwalk) to run against Green, thus avoiding an expensive GOP primary.

But things did not go as the Republicans planned. After the costliest legislative race in the history of California--the two candidates spent a total of $2.99 million--Green won the prize. Grisham’s defeat was a blow to GOP hopes to take control of the Senate before lawmakers begin redrawing district boundaries in the early 1990s.