Republican Rep. Dan Lungren of Gold River is getting some early help for his re-election bid from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
A new television ad airing in the Sacramento area praises Lungren for "fighting to protect California jobs" and singles out his support for repealing the federal health care overhaul.
A slight voter-registration edge for Democrats in the new 7th Congressional District and high turnout for the presidential election are expected to make Lungren a top target this year.
He faces a rematch with Elk Grove Democrat Ami Bera, the doctor and medical educator who lost to Lungren by seven percentage points in 2010.
The Lungren spot is part of a national ad campaign the U.S. Chamber rolled out last week.
Chamber spokesman Bryan Goettel said the ad began airing Thursday on cable and broadcast and will run for two weeks. He declined to say how much the group spent. The "voter education" spots are not subject to the same disclosure requirements as campaign ads.
The Bera campaign said it believes the early spending shows Lungren's vulnerability.
"It's clear that they see him as someone who stands for their interests," spokesman Josh Wolf said. "That's why they're stepping up so early and spending a lot of money when most voters don't really want to be seeing TV ads this early in the game."
>BILL WATCH
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed legislation reconstituting the California Board of Registered Nursing, whose legal authority expired Jan. 1 after Brown vetoed a bill last year to extend it. Senate Bill 98 reinstated the board through 2015. Brown said in his veto last year that he objected to language to expand pension benefits for board investigators – language not included in the bill he signed.
>WORTH REPEATING
"Alcoholism and addiction are diseases from which many of us suffer, and unfortunately, I have not been spared."
NADIA LOCKYER, Alameda County supervisor and wife of California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, announcing Tuesday that she entered a rehabilitation program last week following an incident in which she was allegedly attacked by an ex-boyfriend at a Newark motel
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