Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce, who represents District 2 in Southwest Long Beach, will not face a recall election in November, after the group advocating for her ouster failed to get enough valid signatures.

The City Clerk’s Office could not immediately be reached.

But officials for both Pearce and the campaign to recall the councilwoman confirmed Wednesday evening that the signature-gathering effort fell short. Even though about 9,500 signatures were submitted, about half were invalidated.

Those trying to get rid of Pearce, because of a series of controversies dating to last summer, needed 6,363 signatures to force a recall.

“In spite of the noise, I am proud of my office and the work we’ve done,” Pearce said in a statement. “We’ve stayed focused on the needs of the district: neighborhood cleanups, community meetings, our own events, and constituent services. All while accomplishing great things at council and helping the most vulnerable of our constituents.”

Pearce faced the recall effort because of what her opponents viewed as a series of ethical lapses and an abuse of trust, stemming from a late-night incident on the 710 freeway last summer, after a night of drinking with a former chief of staff with whom she was having an affair, according to police reports.

The campaign to recall Pearce turned in their signatures about 30 minutes before the May 9 deadline. At the time, they sounded confident that they would force an election.

But on Wednesday, Ian Patton, the recall’s campaign manager, admitted that his group had concerns about the validity of some signatures as early as March 24.

“There were a lot of issues with the contractors hired by partner committee (The Friends of Long Beach),” Patton said. “It was very disappointing, obviously, for those of us who wanted to see this happen this year.”

The paid signature-gathering company, Patton said, appeared to have been given the recall petition to workers spread out across Long Beach collecting signatures for statewide petitions. For the statewide petitions, it wouldn’t matter where registered voters lived — but for the Pearce recall, those who signed had to be residents of District 2.

By the time Patton was notified of the problem, he said, it was already late in the game.

Still, he said the campaign was a victory in one way: the City Council censured Pearce in May.

“The censure validated our campaign,” Patton said. “And killed her political career.”