Next year’s congressional midterm election just got a lot more interesting for the Long Beach area.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal’s announcement on Thursday, Dec. 16, that he would not run for a sixth term in Congress has created uncertainty for the strongly Democratic district he has dominated for the past decade, with speculation about who will try to succeed him already cascading — particularly on social media — and the potential reverberations on the state and local levels already looming.

The Long Beach Democrat’s decision to leave the House of Representatives also comes amid the final push to set new district maps after the 2020 census. The final maps, expected to come out Monday, could shift Lowenthal’s 47th District entirely outside of Orange County, potentially boxing out well-known Republican politicians in places like Little Saigon and Huntington Beach — and making the seat even safer for Democrats.

It all amounts to what Chris Burnett, a journalism and politics professor at Cal State Long Beach, called an “early Christmas present” for politicians looking to head to Washington.

“It’s like an early Christmas present for an ambitious politician in Long Beach,” Burnett said Thursday afternoon.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia was among the names almost immediately bandied about by political analysts after Lowenthal’s announcement, including by Burnett.

Garcia, who thanked Lowenthal for his service in a Thursday statement, declined to say whether he planned to run for Congress.

But the popular mayor’s political ambitions are, at best, thinly veiled. During the last presidential election, he campaigned for then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris during the primary and then stumped for President Joe Biden once she became his running mate.

He is also friends with Gov. Gavin Newsom, campaigning for him during the failed recall attempt earlier this year. Garcia also has a campaign finance committee to run for lieutenant governor — the post Newsom held before succeeding former Gov. Jerry Brown — in 2026.

Rob Pyer, research director for the nonpartisan election information website California Target Book, tweeted that Lowenthal’s retirement creates “what could be a clear path for” Garcia.

But Pyer, in a twitter thread, did not stop there.

#CA47 Democrat Alan Lowenthal announces his retirement, creating what could be a clear path for Long Beach Mayor @RobertGarcia. https://t.co/wLo3SZzx9t

— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) December 16, 2021

He also mentioned that current Rep. Roybal-Allard could see most of her 40th District merged into the 47th — potentially forcing her to run for the latter. Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, whose current district includes Downey, Bell Gardens and Bellflower, could also be a willing candidate.

Another interesting option would be state Sen. Lena Gonzalez.

“Also keeping an eye on #SD33 state Senator Lena Gonzalez,” Pyer wrote, “whose Long Beach-anchored district overlaps much of the new #CA47 replacement district and isn’t up until 2024, giving her a free shot.”

Gonzalez’s tweet thanking Lowenthal — in which she lauded him as an inspiration — did not mention anything about her political ambitions. But she seems to have them.

The former Long Beach councilwoman became a state senator after winning a special election to fill the seat Ricardo Lara vacated when he became state insurance commissioner.

Gonzalez represented District 1 on the Long Beach council, the same as Garcia before he became mayor. If Gonzalez were to head to Congress, a separate political path could open for Garcia — one that leads to Sacramento.

Burnett, meanwhile, mentioned another possible contender for the 47th: Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell.

O’Donnell, who did not return requests for comment, has served in the Assembly since 2014 and generally enjoys wide popularity in Long Beach, the largest and most prominent city in the 47th District.

But Burnett, for his part, suggested Garcia may be the candidate to beat if he chooses to run.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise to see two Democrats in the general election,” he said of California’s primary system, which isn’t separated by party.

“Garcia has the name recognition,” Burnett added. “It may come down to who can raise the money to cover this (expensive) market.”

Garcia’s friends in the White House and the Governor’s Mansion could help there.

But if Garcia, who can still run for another mayoral term, did win a congressional seat, it would then create jockeying for who would lead Long Beach from the council dais.

O’Donnell could take a look at that seat. As could Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, who represents the city’s Ninth Council District — and rebuffed suggestions that he could make a run for Congress.

“I don’t think that’s the move for me, with two young girls,” Richardson said. “I will say that Alan set the standard, for all of us.”

But either way, it seems a Democrat will hold that seat — as has been the case for years.

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The current district is 46.1% Democrat, 24.3% Republican, 27.6% independent. Demographically, it’s 54.1% White, 23.3% Latino, 17.7% Asian American and 4.9% Black.

But the district currently includes swaths of Cypress, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Stanton and Westminster.

The Orange County portions of the district combined, according to registration data, are 37% Democrat and 33% Republican.

Losing those portions would only widen the gap between Democrats and Republicans in the district — and swing the demographics in favor of Latino residents.

“It’s an opportunity to make a jump,” Burnett said of ambitious Democrats in the Long Beach area, “to make a big, positive career move.”

How the field will ultimately shape up remains to be seen and, for now, speculations far outpaces clarity.

One things is certain, however: The race for the 47th District is far more interesting now.

Staff writer Brooke Staggs contributed to this report