Dan Lungren
Official portrait, 2009
Chair of theHouse Administration Committee
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Bob Brady
Succeeded by	Candice Miller
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia
In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Doug Ose
Succeeded by	Ami Bera
Constituency	3rd district
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1989
Preceded by	Mark W. Hannaford
Succeeded by	Dana Rohrabacher
Constituency	34th district (1979–1983) 42nd district (1983–1989)
29thAttorney General of California
In office January 7, 1991 – January 4, 1999
Governor	Pete Wilson
Preceded by	John Van de Kamp
Succeeded by	Bill Lockyer
Personal details
Born	Daniel Edward Lungren (1946-09-22)September 22, 1946 (age 79) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Bobbi Kolls ​ ​ (m. 1969; died 2022)​
Children	3
Education	University of Notre Dame (BA) Georgetown University (JD)
Lungren's voice Lungren on Rep.Jack Kemp's death. Recorded May 6, 2009

Daniel Edward Lungren (born September 22, 1946) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and former politician. A native ofLong Beach, California, his career as an elected official began when he was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives as aRepublican, representing the Long Beach area from 1979 to 1989. He then served asattorney general of California from 1991 to 1999, and ran unsuccessfully forgovernor of California in1998, losing toDemocratGray Davis.

In 2005, he returned to Congress, representingCalifornia's 3rd congressional district, which covered most ofSacramento County, portions ofSolano County, as well as all ofAlpine County,Amador County andCalaveras County. In 2012, his seat was redistricted, and he sought re-election inCalifornia's 7th congressional district, losing to DemocratAmi Bera.

Daniel Edward Lungren was born inLong Beach, California, on September 22, 1946,^[1] to a family of Irish, Swedish and Scottish descent. From 1952, Lungren's father, John, was the personal physician to and a close friend of former PresidentRichard Nixon.^[2]

Lungren graduated fromSt. Anthony High School in 1964 and matriculated to theUniversity of Notre Dame, where he earned an A.B. degree with honors inEnglish in 1968.^[3] He returned to California to chair Youth for Nixon during Nixon's first successful run for the presidency.^[4] He anticipated military service during theVietnam War but was ruled ineligible due to a knee injury he sustained while playing football in high school.^[1]

Lungren began his legal studies at theUniversity of Southern California Law School but transferred toGeorgetown University Law Center, where he earned hisJ.D. degree in 1971. During his years at Georgetown, Lungren worked for Republican U.S. SenatorsGeorge Murphy of California andBill Brock of Tennessee. From 1971 to 1972, he was Special Assistant to the co-chair of theRepublican National Committee (RNC); Lungren's wife, Bobbi, worked in the Nixon White House at the time.^[5] When Lungren returned to Long Beach, he joined a law firm and practiced civil law for a short time before running unsuccessfully for Congress in 1976. He was successful in 1978.^[6]

Lungren first served in the House of Representatives from 1979 to 1989, representing portions ofLong Beach andOrange County.Radley Balko wrote in 2012: "Lungren rose in stature with the election ofRonald Reagan in1980, and quickly became a darling of the tough-on-crime crowd and the risingmoral majority movement."^[7] He was one ofNewt Gingrich's chief lieutenants during this time; he was a founding member of theConservative Opportunity Society. He served on theHouse Judiciary Committee, where he pushed for "tough on crime" legislation. In 1984, Lungren sponsored theComprehensive Crime Control Act, "at the time one of the most sweeping pieces of anti-crime legislation in U.S. history."^[7] In addition, he supportedasset forfeiture as a weapon in thewar on drugs, saying he wanted to "[m]ake it illegal for a dry cleaner or a grocery store to take money from a drug dealer (...) and if they do, seize the business. Put the merchant in jail."^[7]

Lungren also supportedsanctions against employers who hired illegal immigrants, but also favored a temporary guest-worker program. He was the principal House cosponsor of the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration bill, which became theImmigration Reform Act of 1986. He also independently sponsored a "guest worker" bill, designed to allow for importation of "temporary" immigrant laborers.^[8]

In late 1987, California GovernorGeorge Deukmejian attempted to appoint Lungren to fill a vacancy in the office ofCalifornia State Treasurer. Thestate Assembly confirmed Lungren's appointment, but thestate Senate rejected it. Arguing that only one house of theLegislature needed to confirm him, Lungren took his case to theCalifornia Supreme Court; while pursuing this action, he did not seek re-election to the U.S. House. On June 23, 1988, the state Supreme Court ruled that both houses of the legislature had to confirm Lungren's appointment; he thus found himself out of a job in both Washington, D.C. andSacramento.^[9]

Lungren was electedAttorney General of California in1990 and re-elected in1994. He ran as a staunch supporter of capital punishment, and in 1992, executions resumed in California after a 25-year pause, with a total of five occurring under his tenure.^[7][10][11] He also helped pass legislation such as "Megan's Law", "3-Strikes-and-You're-Out", "Sexual Anti-Predator Act" and the "California's Safe Schools Plan".^[12] He also sponsored a law allowing minors as young as 14 who are accused of murder to be tried as adults and "led a national effort to limit lawsuits filed by prisoners, which produced the federalPrison Litigation Reform Act of 1996."^[7] His 1993 letter to five major video game publishers and seven major video game retailers, asking them "to stop the manufacturing, licensing, distribution, or sale of any video game that portrays graphic and gratuitous violence", was called "the strongest anti-violence statement yet from a top government official" by the gaming press, even with Lungren's accompanying statement that he was strictly making an appeal to the companies' sense of civic responsibility and not calling for any form of government censorship.^[13][14] In 1996, he was considered as a possible vice presidential candidate to run with Republican nomineeBob Dole.^[15] That same year, Lungren "vigorously opposed"Proposition 215, which legalizedmedical marijuana in California.^[7]

In1998, Lungren was the Republican candidate for governor of California, running against Democratic Lieutenant GovernorGray Davis. During the campaign, Davis maintained that Lungren, who presented himself as the political heir to former California Governor and U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan, was too conservative for California. Davis also criticized Lungren's hesitancy, as California Attorney General, to enforce laws restricting assault weapons and his waiting until the last minute to become part of a class action lawsuit against the cigarette industry.^[1] Lungren touted his crime policies and promoted the economic records of the two preceding Republican governors, George Deukmejian andPete Wilson.^[1] On election day, Davis won with 57.9% of the vote, while Lungren got 38.4%.

In2004 Lungren was elected toCalifornia's 3rd congressional district, which included several rural and exurban areas east of Sacramento.^[16] He had moved toGold River, a Sacramento suburb, in the 1990s.

Lungren was reappointed to the Judiciary Committee based on his previous five terms of seniority; he also served on theHomeland Security Committee. In 2005, Lungren supported theUSA PATRIOT Act, which renewed the federal government's ability to perform secret surveillance including wiretaps of citizens and monitoring of public and private computerpacket-switched networks to prevent terrorism from hitting the United States. In 2006, Lungren and fellow U.S. RepresentativeJane Harman authored the SAFE Port Act, which improves security at the ports including additional requirements for maritime facilities, foreign port assessments, container security initiatives and Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support. Also in 2006, he sponsored the "Streamlined Procedures Act" which "would strip federal courts of the power to reviewhabeas corpus petitions in state death penalty cases."^[7] In 2007, Lungren was appointed to theHouse Administration Committee.^{[citation needed]}

Lungren stated that he opposed "any bill brought to the floor of the House that includes an amnesty provision that confers citizenship status." He cited his concern as the millions of "legal immigrants who wait years in order to obtain permanent residence and citizenship."^[17] Lungren was an opponent of "the huge growth of spending earmarks." Described as a "maverick", he "cited the need for the party to adopt more fiscally conservative policies."^[18]

On July 29, 2008, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6295, introduced by Lungren. This legislation was to stop the use of submersible and semi-submersible vessels used to transport drugs and other contraband that pose a threat to communities and national security. Shortly after the2008 election, a newly reelected Lungren challengedJohn Boehner for House Minority Leader. Although Lungren did not win the post, Boehner appointed him as Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee. To serve in this new role, he left his seat on theBudget Committee. Lungren became Chairman of the House Administration Committee when Republicans took control of the House in January 2011.The Cook Political Report by theNational Journal named Lungren the Republican most vulnerable to redistricting in2012.^[19]

Lungren lost his reelection bid forCalifornia's 7th congressional district, reapportioned after the2010 United States census, in the November 2012 election, won by the Democratic challenger,Ami Bera, by a margin of 5,700 votes – 51.1% to 48.9%.^[20]

• Committee on House Administration (Chair)
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement
  • Task Force on Judicial Impeachment
• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Transportation Security
  • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies (Chairman)
• Joint Committee on Printing
• Joint Committee on the Library
• Republican Study Committee

Lungren ran for Congress again in the 3rd congressional district after six-year incumbent U.S. RepresentativeDoug Ose announced his retirement.^[21] Lungren stated that his desire to serve in Congress again was rekindled by theSeptember 11 attacks. He won a come from behind victory in a three-way primary against Mary Ose (sister of Doug) and State SenatorRico Oller in 2004.^[22]

Lungren was challenged by Democratic nomineeAmi Bera, a physician by occupation, American Independent Jerry Leidecker, Peace and Freedom nominee Mike Roskey and Libertarian Douglas Arthur Tuma. Lungren was reelected with 50.6% of the vote, with Bera accumulating 42.7% and 6.7% for other candidates.^[23]

After the 2010 U.S. Census, Lungren's district was renumbered as the 7th district. It lost all of its territory outside Sacramento County and had a more evenly divided registration of Republicans and Democrats than its predecessor.^[24] He again faced Democrat Ami Bera in the November general election.^[25] With the 7th seen as a swing district, the race was described as a potential "PAC Battlefield".^[26] In one of the most-watched House races nationally, both sides poured in millions of dollars for their campaigns. Bera was ultimately elected to the seat, with 51.7% of the vote to Lungren's 48.3%^[27]

After leaving Congress, Lungren co-founded the lobbying firm Lungren Lopina LLC.^[28][29] In 2018, he joined the law firmKing & Spalding, working from their offices in Washington, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.^[28][30]

In 1969, Lungren married Bobbi Kolls, with whom he had three children; the couple resided inAlexandria, Virginia, at the time of her death in 2022.^[31] He is Catholic.^[32]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDan Lungren.

• U.S. Congressman Dan Lungrenofficial U.S. House website
• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Profile atVote Smart
• The California Citizens Redistricting Commission, final districtsCalifornia Citizens Redistricting Commission | "Fair Representation - Democracy at Work!"
• Appearances onC-SPAN

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