Bulldog campaigning seems to suit congressional...

Bulldog campaigning seems to suit congressional candidate Gerrie

Schipske, who hasn’t shied away from controversy when taking to task

her Republican opponent on everything from the war on terrorism to

prescription benefits for seniors.

In a series of e-mail releases to voters and media outlets during

her run for the newly aligned 46th District seat, Schipske, a Long

Beach nurse, attorney and college teacher, has kept up a steady drum

beat of criticism of incumbent Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

She has taken the aggressive stance, she said, because the new

district has been pieced together from four existing ones and

includes new cities with residents she says aren’t aware of

Rohrabacher’s track record.

“There are a number of voters who aren’t aware of his history,”

Schipske said. “For people who haven’t had to vote for him, they’re

not aware of it.”

State lawmakers assembled puzzle-piece quadrants from the 36th,

38th and 46th districts and Rohrabacher’s 45th District to create a

congressional zone that includes Costa Mesa, parts of coastal Orange

County, Long Beach and Palos Verdes.

Schipske first criticized Rohrabacher’s voting record on oil

drilling along the coastline; then it was prescription drugs for

seniors. She has taken aim at his trips to Afghanistan and his

acceptance of campaign contributions from “pro-Arab groups.”

In August, Schipske called Rohrabacher a “rogue congressman” and

accused him of “conducting secret and illegal negotiations with the

Taliban.” Rohrabacher acknowledged the meeting, in April 2001, but

said he attended it to chastise the group for its oppressive

policies.

Rohrabacher has denied or refuted many of the other charges as

well.

Prior to this race, Schipske orchestrated a handful of tightly run

campaigns for congressional seats. In 2000, she nearly upset Rep.

Steve Horn, losing by less than 1% in a largely Long Beach district.

In 1996, Schipske lost an Assembly race to Steve Kuykendall by

less than 1,000 votes.

One race Schipske did win was the 1992 race for a seat on the Long

Beach Community College District’s board of trustees.

On many issues, Schipske is cut from a traditional Democratic

cloth. She supports medical care for all, regardless of immigration

status, increased federal spending on healthcare and opposition to

laws restricting reproductive rights or benefits based on race or

sexual orientation.

Oddly enough, she was at one point a Republican. Schipske was born

in Long Beach, but grew up in Buena Park in a Republican family. She

even joined Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign. However, when she

began work as a nurse in the neo-natal unit of the UC Irvine Medical

Center in 1980, she began to change her political views. She

abandoned a Republican Party that she said had become too oriented

toward restricting women’s rights.

“I felt the Republican Party had absolutely left women,” Schipske

said. “I had difficulties defending it.”

In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Schipske served as the president

of the Long Beach chapter of the National Organization for Women.

She still practices labor law, representing a handful of clients

at the bargaining table.