In the Headlines

In California’s 3rd district, Republican Rep. Daniel Lungren is one of only two Republicans who has been outraised by a Democratic challenger. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Democratic candidate Ami Bera has raised about $400,000 more than the eight-term incumbent. Only 40 percent of Lungren’s campaign contributions have come from individual donors, while Bera can boast that 80 percent of his war chest is from individual donations.

But the demographics of his district have nonetheless made Lungren vulnerable, and he is one of the only House Republicans in danger of losing his seat in the good GOP year of 2010.

Democrat Ami Bera raised $550,000 in the third quarter of 2010, topping his GOP challenger Republican Rep. Dan Lungren.

“That’s the best part of this campaign and the most humbling part,” Bera said of the campaign’s volunteers. “The level of enthusiasm continues to grow everyday.”

A new TV ad from Democrat Ami Bera slams Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) for using a loophole to attend a lobbyist event in Hawaii. The spot features a shirtless Lungren putting on sunscreen poolside at a high-end resort.

The 30-second spot features Hawaiian shirt-clad constituents alleging that Lungren used a "loophole" to get around ethics rules prohibiting members from taking such trips on the lobbyists' dime.

In his campaign against Lungren, Bera is trying to mobilize not just new residents but voters like Mary Beth Kropp. An administrator with the Elk Grove School District and a lifelong Republican, Ms. Kropp split her ticket between the parties in 2008, voting for Mr. Obama and Lungren. She is supporting Bera in 2010.

"I don't feel that Lungren has done anything for what I believe in as part of my community," Kropp says.

Democrats are getting more bullish about unseating Rep. Dan Lungren. The California Republican has less than 50 percent support in a new poll that shows Democrat Ami Bera within single digits. The Republican had a 46 percent unfavorable rating, compared to 39 percent who viewed him favorably.

Lungren, whose seat is a major target for Democrats, is the only Republican incumbent the publication is moving to the toss-up category in the latest House race rating by the CQ-Roll Call Group publication.

The publication's ratings...calls Lungren the "easiest target for Democrats to paint as a politician who has been in office too long, a message that is certainly resonating with voters this cycle.

Finally, we are moving one Republican incumbent into the Tossup category: California Rep. Dan Lungren.

Democrat Ami Bera hits the Central Valley lawmaker he's trying to unseat, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River), for lobbying for former Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns, which was one of his clients while working for a Washington, D.C., law firm.

Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Lungren, a former state attorney general and the 1998 Republican candidate for governor, has the unwanted distinction of being one of the nation's few imperiled GOP incumbents.

Physician Ami Bera is challenging Lungren in suburban Sacramento's 3rd District. He has lots of money from fellow Indo Americans and, more recently, national Democratic sources.

The ad, described by a source as "sizable," hits Lungren...for "double dipping" in taxpayer money by accepting both a Congressional salary and a pension from the state. It also knocks Lungren for accepting a 25 percent pay raise just before leaving the attorney general's office, which increased his annual pension.

The ad also slams Lungren for accepting a pay raise the month before leaving his post as state attorney general. The raise led to an $11,000 increase in his annual pension.

California Democrat Ami Bera opened his TV ad campaign with a spot that accuses Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) of "double-dipping into taxpayer money to fund his salary and lavish pension."

That salary increase, approved by the Citizens Compensation Commission, upped the pension benefits Lungren is eligible to receive through the California Legislative Retirement System by more than $11,000 a year.

Democrats are hopeful in the Golden State because Lungren was reelected to the Sacramento-area district with less than 50 percent of the vote in 2008. Obama and Sen. John McCain split the district 49%-49%.

"He's the best candidate we've ever had," a Democrat told TPM.

After failing to break 50 percent in his 2008 reelection, Lungren is a major target for Democrats who are touting the candidacy of physician Ami Bera. The Sacramento-area district is a partisan jump ball; President Obama won it by 1,592 votes out of more than 329,000 cast in 2008.

Bera showed up with his shirtsleeves rolled up on the hot Sunday afternoon, ready to answer questions from the nearly two-dozen people interested in meeting the alternative to three-term Republican Rep. Dan Lungren on the November ballot.

Lungren is only one of three GOP incumbents on the list, but physician Ami Bera (D) has earned this ranking because of his strong fundraising performance (he's consistently outraised Lungren) and his aggressive campaign.