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Long Beach Mayoral Candidate Puts Photo of the Wrong City on Campaign Mailers
Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal is not having the best week. The 74-year-old candidate running for the mayoral seat in Long Beach sent out a campaign mailer on Tuesday to everyone in town that featured the beautiful image of San Diego—not the city she's promoting.
Lowenthal had the words, “Getting things done in Long Beach," emblazoned across the mailer, but unfortunately, the photo of sailboats and blue waters were set against a backdrop of sunny San Diego. The L.A. Times reported that the photo shows the San Diego harbor with a Navy ship and One America Plaza in the background.
Although Lowenthal was "shocked" to see the mistake, she told the L.A. Times, "Everyone makes mistakes."
Her campaign spokesman Mike Shimpock takes the blame for the embarrassing mistake. Shimpock told the Press-Telegram that the ID numbers on the photos of San Diego and Long Beach were mixed up and they didn't get a chance to look at the final product before mass-mailing it out.
"She was upset,” Shimpock told the Press-Telegram. "But I think she realizes I’m pretty hard on myself. I screwed up, it’s embarrassing, it’s a mistake. It was my sword to fall on."
Gov. Jerry Brown had announced his endorsement of Lowenthal for mayor just a day before the gaffe. However, Shimpock doesn't think this incident will affect Lowenthal's race.
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"In the big picture, it was a minor error," he told the Press Telegram. "It’s not as embarrassing or misleading like you’re hearing some of the claims the other candidates are making.”
Eds. Note: Lowenthal is 74 years old, not 40 as originally reported in the L.A. Times.
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