Rishoff drops out of state Assembly race

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Louise Rishoff

Louise Rishoff


Louise Rishoff, former mayor and city council member of Agoura Hills, announced she is withdrawing from the 2006 California Assembly race in the 41st District. The seat is being vacated later in the year by incumbent Fran Pavley, for whom Rishoff currently works as a staff officer“It has. . .consumed every waking hour of every day of my life for the past nine months, and the real campaign hasn’t even begun,” said Rishoff, an Agoura Hills resident.

The 41st District extends from Santa Monica to Oxnard.

“My plan was to assess at the end of this year whether or not I was truly committed to dedicating another year to the rigors of full-time campaigning, and which would require leaving a job that has been the most exciting professional experience of my life,” Rishoff said. “I also wanted to take a serious look at the other candidates who were seeking the seat.”

Rishoff said she will support Julia Brownley in the June Democratic primary. Brownley is a longtime member of the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District.

“I am convinced that she shares my passion for environmental protection,” Rishoff said.

“I entered this race earlier this year because this is a special and environmentally fragile district—70 miles of beautiful coastline, almost the entire Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, wetlands and dunes, creeks and riparian areas, large expanses of agricultural land, and an extraordinary diversity of wildlife facing threatened and shrinking habitat.”

Rishoff said she is “sorry” for disappointing those who supported her.

“Giving anything less than 100 percent on a 24-7 basis would be a serious disservice to those who have gotten behind my campaign, and would fall short of the responsibility that is owed to the voters of this great district,” Rishoff said.

“I have no doubt that this is the right decision for me, and it is the right time to make it.”

Rishoff served on the Agoura Hills City Council from 1987 to 2003 and is credited with bringing the city into prominence while protecting its open space. She also served two years on the city’s planning commission and shared many of the same concerns for the environment as Pavley, also a former Agoura Hills mayor.

Calabasas Mayor Barry Groveman remains one of the frontrunners in the race. Groveman, an environmental lawyer, recently received the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

“Louise has been very dedicated to public service and has served this area well,” Groveman said. “Louise, Assemblywoman Pavley and I share many of the same views and have worked well together over the years.”

Other candidates include liberal activist Kelly Hayes Raitt and Cal State University-Channel Islands professor Jonathan Levey.

Because the district is heavily Democratic, it’s believed the winner of the June primary will be the winner of the November general election.

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