In the Headlines

The Bera for Congress Campaign announced earlier today that it had achieved yet another strong fundraising quarter, raising $339,309. Dr. Ami Bera has now raised $1.56 million, and the campaign has $1.14 million cash on hand. This is the fifth consecutive quarter Bera has out raised his opponent, incumbent Dan Lungren, R-Gold River...Separately the Bera campaign released a video today criticizing Lungren for what they call his continued support of big oil and off-shore oil drilling.

This is the fifth straight quarter Bera has outpaced Lungren in campaign fundraising, and he maintains a lead of more than $330,000 in cash on hand.

Dr. Ami Bera (Dem.-Elk Grove), opponent to Rep. Congressman Dan Lungren, has been traveling throughout the 3rd Congressional District, which covers most of Sacramento County and part of Solano, Alpine, Amador and Calaveras counties, in search for a fresh perspective from the core of the region – its residents.

Last Saturday the Bera for Congress Campaign kicked off their door-to-door canvassing efforts with a large rally at the campaign's Elk Grove Headquarters. After speaking with his supporters, Dr. Bera and the crowd of volunteers spread out into Elk neighborhoods throughout the district, knocking on doors and meeting voters face-to-face.

By: Ami Bera

Tue Jun 29, 2010 at 11:31:53 AM PDT

Dan Lungren is out of touch.

That's the only way to explain why Dan stood silent in Congress while his colleague, Texas Rep. Joe Barton, offered an apology to BP and as the Republican Congressional policy group he's a member of called the compensation fund for victims of the oil disaster a "shakedown."

In District 3, where registered Republicans hold a slim lead, Rep. Dan Lungren of Sacramento was re-elected to a third term in 2008 with just under 50 percent of the vote. Democrats, smelling blood in the water, are backing Ami Bera, an Elk Grove physician and one of six Indian Americans currently running for Congress.

Dan Lungren is still defending BP, and said the recent oil spill catastrophe has "done nothing to alter his view of offshore drilling, which he favors." 

Two years ago, I wrote in this column saying that Republican Congressman Dan Lungren might be in trouble in the November 2008 election. It seemed like a stretch at the time... But in 2010, Lungren might not be so lucky.

There is one thing both parties agree on – California conservative Congressman Dan Lungren is vulnerable to defeat.

Banks should lend more freely to small businesses, and those banks should be more tightly regulated, Elk Grove resident Ami Bera said last week at a press conference.

Bera, a Democrat running for U.S. Congress, held a June 10 press conference at a Rancho Cordova union hall to announce his “Plan for Job Creation and Economic Recovery.”

In January, the Sacramento Press described  the 3rd District congressional race beginning between Ami Bera and Dan Lungren and how there’s a clear choice between Lungren, the incumbent, a career politician exemplifying the status quo running against Dr. Bera, a progressive-minded newcomer.  A clear choice, including the way each of the two candidates finances his campaign.

SAN ANDREAS - A year ago, physician Amish "Ami" Bera of Elk Grove was probably best known for having served five years as Sacramento County's chief medical officer.

Now Bera is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, and he's getting national attention because of the more than $1.2 million he has raised to unseat Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River. That sum earns him the distinction of being the only California challenger for a House seat who has raised more than his incumbent rival.

WASHINGTON — In an election year dominated by health care, dozens of candidates for Congress have a catchy campaign slogan at their disposal: Send a doctor to the House.

Forty-seven physicians — 41 Republicans and six Democrats— are running for the House or Senate this year, three times the number of doctors serving in Congress today, according to a USA TODAY review.

Yesterday was the official deadline for federal candidates to file their first quarter fundraising reports -- detailing their donations and expenditures for the first three months of 2010. With so many reports flooding in and what's contained in them likely to affect races around the country, we thought we'd dedicate our Morning Fix to a look at the early winners and losers from the first filing quarter. Away we go!

Physician Ami Bera (D) just keeps putting together strong fundraising quarters for his upstart challenge to Rep. Dan Lungren (D-Calif.). On Thursday, his campaign announced that the first-time candidate raised more than $380,000 in the first three months of 2010, pushing his total receipts to $1.25 million.

The national health care debate is coming to Galt, Fair Oaks and Ione. 

Across the country, Republicans are bellicose, vowing to unseat congressional Democrats who dare to vote for President Barack Obama's health care legislation. Democrats seem fearful.

But in the district that runs from Elk Grove to Carmichael and east to the Sierra Nevada, a Democrat is uniquely positioned to alter the terms of engagement and challenge incumbent Republican Dan Lungren over his opposition to the health care overhaul.

The campaign arm of House Democrats announced Wednesday that 13 candidates gunning for Republican-held seats are being welcomed into a program that offers them a considerable financial leg up in their midterm race.

Physician Ami Bera of Elk Grove is officially a top-tier candidate for Democrats.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) today announced that Bera, who's trying to unseat Republican Rep. Dan Lungren of Gold River, is one of 13 candidates who have earned a spot in the committee's competitive Red to Blue program.

WASHINGTON – There are no Indian Americans in Congress, and Ami Bera hopes to change that.

Bera, a 44-year-old physician from Elk Grove, is one of six Indian Americans running for Congress this year, a record high. Hauling in half of his contributions from Indian Americans, Bera, a Democrat, has raised $871,000, even more than Republican Rep. Dan Lungren, the eight-term incumbent he's trying to replace in California's 3rd Congressional District.