'Daniel Edward (Dan) Lungren' (born
September 22,
1946), is a
Republican of the
United States House of Representatives representing
California's 3rd congressional district (see
map), located in the suburbs of
Sacramento where he has served since
2005.
Biography
Born in
Long Beach, California of Irish and Swedish extraction, Lungren now calls
Gold River his home, although he is described in some press reports as "R-
Folsom". He is married to Bobbi Lungren and has three children.
After graduating from
St. Anthony High School in 1964, Lungren earned a
A.B. with honors in
English from the
University of Notre Dame in 1968. After graduating, he returned to California to chair "Youth for
Nixon." He began
law school at the
University of Southern California and later transferred to
Georgetown University Law Center from which he earned his
J.D. in 1971.
Lungren has served once before in the House, from 1979 to 1989, representing California's 34th Congressional District, based in Long Beach. He was one of
Newt Gingrich's chief lieutenants during this time, and was a founding member of the
Conservative Opportunity Society. He served on the
House Judiciary Committee, where his signature issue was immigration. He pushed for
sanctions against employers who hired
illegal immigrants, but supports a temporary guest-worker program. He was the principal House co-sponsor of the Simpson-Mazolli immigration bill, which became the Immigration Reform Act of 1986, with its provision for a "one time only" amnesty for more than 3 million illegal aliens. He also independently sponsored a "guest worker" bill, designed to allow for importation of "temporary" immigrant laborers. He left the House when
California Governor George Deukmejian appointed him as California's acting
State Treasurer, but was never confirmed (see
[1]).
He was elected
California Attorney General in 1990 and served two terms in that post. In 1998 Lungren ran as the Republican candidate for
Governor of California, but was defeated by
Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis. Lungren won the support of 38.4% of the voters while Davis received 57.9% of the votes.
Congressional career
Lungren has said his desire to serve in
Congress was rekindled by the
September 11, 2001 attacks. He quickly won support from the Republican establishment and easily won the Republican primary. The 3rd District had been in Democratic hands for 36 years after its creation in 1963 (it was originally the 4th District from 1963 to 1993), most notably under
Vic Fazio from 1979-99, but went to Republican
Doug Ose in 1999. It had been
redrawn after the
2000 census to be much friendlier to Republicans, and Lungren easily won in November, returning to Congress after a 16-year absence.
Lungren was reappointed to the Judiciary Committee based on his previous five terms of seniority, and also serves on the
Budget and
Homeland Security committees. He has expressed an interest in becoming involved in immigration issues again.
In 2006 Lungren returned to Congress with 59.5% of the vote.
[2] His opponent was
Marine Combat Veteran Bill Durston (M.D.)
[3]
External links
★
U.S. Congressman Dan Lungren 'official House site'
★
★
Federal Election Commission — Daniel E Lungren campaign finance reports and data
★
On the Issues — Dan Lungren issue positions and quotes
★
OpenSecrets.org — Dan Lungren campaign contributions
★
Project Vote Smart — Representative Dan Lungren (CA) profile
★
SourceWatch Congresspedia — Dan Lungren profile
★
Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Dan Lungren voting record