In the Headlines

Nearly two years ago, my family, friends, supporters and I began an improbable journey. We traveled through the district and across the state. We met passionate individuals who gave voice to the concerns felt by many Americans and detailed the hopes of their families, their communities, and the 3rd Congressional District.

Many of you joined us through this journey. While three months have passed since the election, I am still humbled and inspired by your hard work, dedication, and commitment to the causes you care about. Even though we did not get the results we had hoped for on Election Night, the importance of your role in the first chapter of our journey is not diminished.

And now, the journey continues. After a period of honest reflection and consultation with my family and members of the community, I have decided to run again for Congress in 2012.

I am running again because the issues we care about are no less important today than they were last November. You deserve a representative who will fight to:

Create good jobs and secure America’s place as the world’s economic leader;

Bring the needed expertise to continue to improve access to health care—rather than simply saying “no” to progress;

Build an education system that truly prepares future generations to compete in an innovation-driven and interconnected global economy.

Ensure that the opportunity to achieve the American Dream is available to all who work hard.

In short, you deserve a representative who will fight for you.

I learned many valuable lessons from our 2010 campaign, the most important of which is that there is no substitute for the might of an impassioned group of citizens working together for a better future.

And so, I ask for your help to carry on our work. Together we will continue this improbable journey toward a new chapter of new leadership for our community. Together we will build a better future for all of our children and grandchildren. Together we will race towards victory in 2012.

Be well,

Dr. Ami Bera

Thank you. From day one of our improbable journey, this campaign has been about you. Because of you, we ran an extraordinary campaign, and together, we elevated the critical concerns and aspirations of thousands of Californians, just like you. 

I am proud of the campaign we've run, and you should be too.  The story of our campaign is the story of a diverse, passionate coalition of Californians who worked together tirelessly, striving to create that more perfect Union.

So thank you. Thank you for your support, your hard work, and your service. We may not have received the outcome we wanted, but I promise you that I will continue to fight with you to heal our broken government, to restore an ethic of service to our politics, and guarantee the promise of opportunity for every American.

I hope you'll continue to stay in touch. Check our website for periodic updates. Together, we'll continue our fight to ensure every American has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

Be well,

Dr. Ami Bera

Most California Congressional incumbents seem pretty safe, but three seem to have real battles on their hands.

At best, Lungren is loose with the facts, at worse, he’s trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the voters of CA-3.

But on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, around that same time, Rep. Dan Lungren said of Citizens United: “This is a great day, Mr. Speaker. This is a great day,” and added that the “Supreme Court finally got it right.”

Of course, Lungren has been on the receiving end of about $15,000 in contributions from Citizen United, the conservative 501(c)(4) group that brought and won the lawsuit tossing out our already weak campaign-finance laws.

Ami Bera knows he’s paving the way for the next wave of Indian American candidates: "That’s a privilege to be in a position to inspire a generation. They should dream they can be congressmen. They should dream they can be senators."

Quarter after quarter after quarter Bera has out-raised Lungren, so much so that Karl Rove saw fit for his shadowy PAC to invest over $600,000 into ads for Lungren. Now he has been caught outright lying to seniors about his desire to privatize Social Security and Dr. Bera is not letting off the hook.

Bera, who pollsters say is one of the few Democrats in the nation with a chance of unseating an incumbent Republican next week, went on the attack repeatedly. On several occasions, he accused Lungren of practicing "deceit and deception," for example by advocating Social Security privatization and then denying it, or by claiming he supports small businesses but pushing policies that favor large corporations.

Lungren lies about his support for privatizing Social Security.

Chairing the committee that writes campaign finance law would be a coup for a deregulation-hawk like Lungren. If Lungren wins re-election, secretive groups and operatives like Karl Rove will have even less trouble turning 2012 into another record year for campaign fundraising.

He credits his army of 3,300 campaign volunteers, who he says have called more than 400,000 voters, for putting the Republican district in play.

"I'd poke your head out there and look at the level of enthusiasm," he said from his campaign office in Carmichael, pointing to the roughly 30 volunteers calling voters in the next room. "Then take a drive over to Dan Lungren's, or the Republicans' campaign office. There's no enthusiasm gap when you look at that."

Rep. Dan Lungren, an eight-term congressman from California, holds one of six House seats that potentially could slip away from Republicans, in a year when Republicans generally are expected to see big gains. But of those six Republican candidates in competitive races, Lungren is the only one who's a longtime incumbent from a conservative district.

“I’m running for the House of Representatives to represent the needs of the people who live here,” Bera said. “Let’s have Congressional leadership that understands the need to rebuild America. I can fight for American workers. I can fight for the middle class. Let’s make ‘Made in America’ mean something.”

Yet despite his lack of political experience Bera has impressive fundraising numbers: according to October FEC reports he has raised upwards of $450,000 more than his opponent.

A throng of Democrats descended on Gale Fairbrother's creekside home in Drytown Oct. 7 to welcome the doctor, and to help spur him on in his run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Three-term Congressman Dan Lungren, a former state attorney general and the 1998 Republican candidate for governor, is one of the very few GOP congressional members sweating re-election this year.

Dr. Bera has captured the attention of leaders of both parties with an impressive streak of fund-raising — some $2.1 million and counting — and sharp-elbowed advertising, which has put Mr. Lungren in a rare role this year: the endangered Republican incumbent.

Bera proves to be the superior candidate on every important current challenge, bringing a breath of fresh air and new political strategy to District 3. Lungren represents doing the same tired things over and over again and expecting or hoping for a different result, which (as the old saying goes) is a bit daft.

Insiders know the Congressman is in a tough race...A less-than-sterling fundraiser who once again is running a lackadaisical campaign, Lungren faces Ami Bera, an Indian-American physician who is running an aggressive race.