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California: Bera Defeats Lungren

Bera will likely face a tough re-election this cycle. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Bera will likely face a tough re-election this cycle. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Democrat Ami Bera has officially prevailed over House Administration Chairman Dan Lungren, R-Calif., who becomes the 24th House incumbent to lose in the Nov. 6 elections.

The Associated Press called the race Thursday, more than one week after Election Day, with Bera leading by about 5,700 votes. Vote counting has been slow in the Sacramento-area district, where Bera’s lead on election night was only 184 votes.

With the race in the 7th District called, there are now four outstanding House races. They are in California’s 52nd District, Florida’s 18th District, North Carolina’s 7th District and Arizona’s 2nd District. A fifth race in Louisiana’s 3rd district between two GOP members will be decided in a December runoff.

Democrats lead in all of the races where the winner is still uncalled. If they prevail in all of them, the party’s net gain in the House this cycle will be eight seats.

Lungren was first elected to the House in 1979 and served for a decade. He served as California attorney general from 1991 to 1999 and then returned to Congress after being elected to an open seat in 2004. Bera challenged him in 2010 but came up short in a cycle where there was a strong Republican wave nationally. The 7th District, like all districts in California, were reconfigured this cycle to match new census figures.

See all of the other members defeated or not returning to the 113th Congress on our Casualty List.

Joshua Miller contributed to this report.

 

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