Democrat Ami Bera is running a strong campaign against incumbent GOP Congressman Dan Lungren of California’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes most of Sacramento County, all of Alpine, Amador and Calaveras counties, and part of Solano County.

Elk Grove, Calif.-resident “Bera has been an Associate Dean for Admissions at the UC Davis School of Medicine and was the former Chief Medical Officer for the County of Sacramento,” wrote India Journal in an article last Friday, which included a Q&A with Dr. Bera.

More than having a strong chance at unseating an incumbent Republican Congressman, Dr. Bera is running against an elected official with a shameful track record of opposition to civil rights and issues important to people of color.

Almost 25 years ago, a coalition of Asian American individuals and organizations formed to oppose Lungren’s appointment as Calif. state Treasurer, citing his voting record as “anti-minority, anti-civil rights, anti-women, anti-poor and anti-elderly,” the Los Angeles Times quoted Donald K. Tamaki, a San Francisco attorney and spokesman for coalition. “He is a radical, an extremist on many positions.” (See the full article pasted below.)

A quarter-century later, Lungren’s been taking pay raises, double dipping into tax funds and plagued by ethics issues.

Visit Dr. Bera’s website and find out how you can be a part of firing Dan Lungren from Congress.

Asian Group Hits Choice of Lungren for Treasurer

By Richard C. Paddock and Mark Gladstone
Los Angeles Times
December 18, 1987

SACRAMENTO — A coalition of Asian-American groups and individuals assailed the nomination of Rep. Daniel E. Lungren for state treasurer Thursday, saying the Long Beach Republican is an “extremist” who opposes civil rights and is insensitive to minorities.

The attack from the group, which calls itself Californians for Responsible Government, is the first organized opposition to surface against Lungren’s nomination and could give Democrats in the Legislature ammunition to fight his confirmation.

“His voting record reflects an attitude that is anti-minority, anti-civil rights, anti-women, anti-poor and anti-elderly,” said Donald K. Tamaki, a San Francisco attorney and spokesman for the newly formed organization. “He is a radical, an extremist on many positions.”

Lungren, 41, was nominated last month by Gov. George Deukmejian to succeed Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh, who died in August. The Legislature is scheduled to begin hearings on Lungren in January and must act on the nomination by March 1.

Lungren, contacted in his Washington office, countered that he is “in the mainstream” of California politics. The coalition has attacked him, he said, merely because he does not side with its members on every issue.

“In the ’50s, that kind of thinking was known as McCarthyism,” Lungren said.

The coalition lists as members more than 125 individuals and organizations, including Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo, Los Angeles school board Member Warren Furitani, San Francisco Supervisor Tom Hsieh, the Asian-Pacific Bar Assn. of California and the Japanese-American Democratic Club of Los Angeles.

In particular, the coalition cited Lungren’s opposition to legislation that would pay $1.2 billion in cash reparations to 60,000 Japanese-Americans who were interned during World War II.

Lungren, who served on a federal blue-ribbon commission to examine the internment issue, has consistently maintained that the payment of money cannot correct the terrible wrong done to those who were confined. He favors giving the victims a formal apology and spending $50 million on an education program about the internment.

Lashed Back

Lungren lashed back at his critics saying, “I just find it extraordinary that I would get involved in this whole process because of my concern about intolerance . . . (and) then have intolerance visited on me.”

But the coalition, in addition to attacking Lungren’s stand on the reparations issue, criticized his votes on about 40 bills, including his opposition to the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, tough sanctions against South Africa and a variety of health and welfare programs.

The issues raised by the coalition could help lay a foundation for uniting Democratic-oriented groups against Lungren by highlighting issues that are of concern to other minorities, organized labor, women, senior citizens and the poor.

“The Lungren issue goes far beyond the issue of redress (for the World War II internment),” said George Kodoma, president of the Japanese-American Democratic Club of Los Angeles. “We are opposed to his confirmation in the strongest possible terms. He is a reactionary parading under the mantle of fiscal conservatism.”