Dan Lungren

One primary reason I can think of for choosing Dan Lungren over Gray Davis in the governor's race is to maintain a balance in California's political landscape. Should Davis win, the Democrats would control all three branches of California's government bodies. As a result, there would be a decided shift left in the political process, with every liberal bill passed by the Assembly and Senate having a good chance of being signed into law. The office of governor may be reduced to a rubber-stamp.

States' rights is one of those high principles that Republicans are willing to fight for — except when they aren't. So we have to give credit to Rep. Dan Lungren, California's former attorney general and now a congressman from Gold River, because he was the sole GOP member of the House Judiciary Committee to live up to his party's constitutional ideals by voting against a recent bill that steps on state gun regulations. The bill, known as the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, was approved in the House on Wednesday by a 272-154 vote, with 43 Democrats siding with 229 Republicans in the "yes" column.

Ami Bera, a first-time congressional candidate, campaigns along the tree-lined streets of the Sacramento suburbs, toting a water bottle and shouldering the hopes of Democrats nationwide. There is more at stake than personal ambition: A victory could help his party keep control of the House. Republicans need a gain of 39 seats to take charge, and with dozens of imperiled Democrats across the country, polls suggest the GOP could well succeed. To reach that number, however, Republicans must almost certainly hang on to 10 or so of their own vulnerable seats.

After about a month in control of the House of Representatives, Republicans haven't managed to undo as many deeds of their Democratic predecessors as they'd like. They couldn't get rid of "Obamacare," and they haven't made much headway in slashing the president's $4-trillion budget. But the GOP has succeeded in short order in one critically important venture: getting rid of the "compostable" cornstarch-based knives, forks and spoons that were a universally ? and bipartisanly ? hated feature of the House cafeteria operation.

Republican attorney general candidate Dan Lungren scored a publicity coup with a luncheon fund-raiser that featured Vice President Dan Quayle as the celebrity guest and offered supporters who paid $500 a chance to get their pictures taken with the former Indiana senator.

An Orange County judge Monday denied Democrat Arlo Smith's last-ditch effort to invalidate more than 1 million absentee ballots crucial to last month's election for state attorney general, which GOP candidate Dan Lungren won by a scant 0.2% margin. The decision removes the last cloud hanging over Lungren's apparent victory in time for the secretary of state's certification of the election, scheduled for Dec. 14.

Attorneys for Democrat Arlo Smith demanded in Orange County Superior Court on Friday that virtually all absentee ballots cast statewide in last month's close election for state attorney general be invalidated--an action that would result in Smith defeating the apparent winner, Republican Dan Lungren. No ruling was issued at the hearing before Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer. Smith's lawyers charge that secretary of state employees provided incorrect guidance to local ballot counters.

In a surprise move, San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith announced Friday that he is dropping out of the race for attorney general, setting up a showdown between Democratic Assemblyman Tom Umberg of Orange County and Republican incumbent Dan Lungren. Smith, who narrowly lost to Lungren in 1990 and had been campaigning aggressively in recent weeks, said he was concerned neither he or Umberg (D-Garden Grove) could unseat Lungren after an expensive primary battle.

In a spirited 30-minute debate for public television, Assemblyman Tom Umberg on Wednesday criticized state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren for not taking a position on the immigration initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot, while the incumbent accused his Democratic rival of belatedly supporting the politically popular "three strikes" sentencing laws. Umberg, a two-term assemblyman from Garden Grove, also accused Lungren of allowing the attorney general's office to be influenced by campaign contributions.

Darn! Just when I thought I could face the next open primary election with an open mind, and maybe even vote for a Republican or two, Dan Lungren comes out in opposition to the assault weapons ban (March 20). Now, how can I ever consider voting for him? BARBARA HOWARD San Clemente

A congressional bill aimed at eliminating a tax rule that many small businesses complained was unfair to them has been introduced by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River). The provision, set to go into effect in 2012, requires all businesses to file special forms with the Internal Revenue Service to report payments made not only to freelance workers, as in the past, but also to stores, vendors and anybody else from whom they bought $600 or more in goods or services over the course of a year.

Regardless of which candidate wins the race for California attorney general, voters expect that San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris or Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley will respect the outcome of the election gracefully. But they appear reluctant to extend that respect to Proposition 19, which would legalize the private, adult use of limited amounts of marijuana statewide and allow local governments to regulate commercial production and retail distribution. At their debate last week at UC Davis, neither Harris nor Cooley would state whether they would, as attorney general, enforce and defend Proposition 19. Democrat Harris was ambiguous regarding what her actions as attorney general might be: "I believe that if it were to pass, it would be incumbent on the attorney general to convene her top lawyers and the experts on constitutional law to do a full analysis of the constitutionality of that measure ... and what action, if any, should follow.

Republican Rep. Mary Bono Mack of Palm Springs has a new title these days: "Patriot. " That's the term leaders of the National Republican Congressional Committee are using for House members they believe to be most vulnerable to a Democratic challenge this fall. Rep. Jerry McNerney, who wrenched his Northern California district from GOP hands four years ago, is a " Frontline Democrat," the name the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has bestowed on its party members facing strong challenges.

Ami Bera, a first-time congressional candidate, campaigns along the tree-lined streets of the Sacramento suburbs, toting a water bottle and shouldering the hopes of Democrats nationwide. There is more at stake than personal ambition: A victory could help his party keep control of the House. Republicans need a gain of 39 seats to take charge, and with dozens of imperiled Democrats across the country, polls suggest the GOP could well succeed. To reach that number, however, Republicans must almost certainly hang on to 10 or so of their own vulnerable seats.

USC safety Taylor Mays prides himself on making physical plays, but he was shocked that some recent ones resounded all the way to nation's capital. That's what happened Wednesday when Mays got blindsided by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River) during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on NFL head injuries. Lungren, a Notre Dame graduate, first talked about former Oakland Raiders player Jack Tatum setting the bar for hits designed to injure. He then complained about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow being rushed back from a concussion before finally getting to Mays.

Former California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren had a strong sense of deja vu last week while standing in the East Room of the White House. Twenty-six years after he was first elected to Congress and welcomed at a White House ceremony by then-President Carter, Lungren was back, this time being welcomed as a newly elected lawmaker by President Bush.

George Skelton's one-sided column on Gov. Pete Wilson's opposition to California Indian gaming (July 13) failed to ask an obvious question. To wit, "Gov. Wilson, have you ever received campaign contributions from Nevada gambling interests, which seek to end competition from California Indian casinos?" The same question should be asked of Dan Lungren and other politicians who oppose Native American gaming as it now exists. Wilson is the best governor Nevada has ever had! SAM DAVIS Oceanside

In a clash of prominent conservatives, veteran Rep. Dana Rohrabacher held a commanding lead over former Rep. Robert K. Dornan on Tuesday night in early primary returns for Rohrabacher's congressional seat in coastal Orange County. The entrenched Huntington Beach Republican was ahead by an 8-1 margin in the contest against Dornan, an outspoken, often bombastic politician whose ardent support of military spending and the aerospace industry earned him the nickname "B-1 Bob."

Dan Lungren's Republican resume includes a long stint in Congress and two turns as California's attorney general, as well as a run at the governor's job in 1998, which he lost resoundingly to Gray Davis. He's back in the fray. The longtime Long Beach resident is working his way north -- to the 3rd Congressional District, near Sacramento. (They're numbered north to south, so the lower the number, the farther north). It is still Republican Doug Ose's seat, but it won't be for long.