Northern California district a GOP target to regain seats Support, funds pour in to reclaim seats lost in '12

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A Northern California congressional district is one of the top targets for Republicans looking to reverse the disastrous 2012 election that cost them five seats around the state.

Democratic Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove faces Republican businessman - and former congressman - Doug Ose of Citrus Heights as the GOP tries to wrest back the suburban Sacramento County seat that Bera grabbed from Rep. Dan Lungren two years ago. Republican leaders also are pouring money and support into races for the other seats they lost in 2012 - in Ventura County, Palm Springs, Riverside and San Diego - hoping to oust the Democratic newcomers before they become entrenched.

Without President Obama at the top of the ticket to swell the turnout of minorities and Democratic-leaning young people, Republicans believe the districts will swing back to their traditional GOP roots.

"We're confident," said Tyler Houlton, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "We have a great group of candidates who are running good campaigns."

But the Democratic freshmen, like most congressional newcomers, have spent the past two years building support. They've had time to become better known, travel around their districts, and help people resolve their disputes with Social Security, Medicare and other federal agencies.

Every targeted Democrat finished ahead of his or her GOP challenger in the June primary, and most hold a significant advantage in campaign cash.

"California Democrats are well positioned heading into their fall campaigns," said Kelly Ward, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She said voters in the heavily Democratic state are rejecting the Republican brand and that GOP candidates "will be forced to defend positions that are far outside California's mainstream values."

Swing district

The road to re-election won't be easy for the targeted Democrats. Bera, for example, is running in a district with a decades-long history of sending Republicans to Congress.

"This is a classic swing district, evenly split in registration," said Bera, a 49-year-old physician. "I love the district because you have to talk with everyone and work with both Democrats and Republicans."

Bera flies back to his district from Washington almost every week, and says he spends his weekends talking not just to traditional Democratic supporters but also to business groups, chambers of commerce and even conservative organizations.

The district "was hit hard by the recession, and a lot of hard-working people are still struggling," Bera said. "People want elected leaders who understand the problems they're facing. The best way for me to get re-elected is to do my job."

Ose, Bera's GOP challenger, spent six years in Congress before leaving office in 2004 to comply with his self-imposed three-term limit.

The 59-year-old businessman is running as a conservative alternative to Bera, who Ose believes does not understand the district's problems.

"You just have to ask people if they're better off today than they were two years ago," Ose said. "The economy is underperforming and (Bera) says government is the solution, when government is the cause of our problems."

Ose wants to ease regulatory burdens on small businesses, arguing that will give them an incentive to hire more workers. The district's unemployment rate in June was 7.03 percent, below the state's 7.3 percent figure.

Ose also said he's willing to work with Democrats and others to deal with the country's problems.

"We have challenges we face and sometimes one side is right and ... sometimes the other side is right," he said. "If the other guy is right, just admit it."

The contest for Bera's seat is seen as one of the most competitive in the nation and rated a toss-up by most observers. Outside money has flowed into the district, with a group founded by Karl Rove, the conservative campaign strategist, spending nearly $900,000 on TV ads challenging Bera for his support of Obama's Affordable Care Act.

That same independent expenditure group, Crossroads GPS, is spending $700,000 in the San Diego district held by Democratic Rep. Scott Peters, who is seen as one of the country's most vulnerable congressmen. He's being challenged by Republican Carl DeMaio, a gay former San Diego city councilman who lost a close race for mayor in 2012.

Crucial campaigns

Other races on the Republicans' target list:

-- In a district centered on Ventura County, Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley is facing Republican Jeff Gorell. Brownley barely edged Gorell in the primary, 45 to 44 percent.

-- Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz, a physician, is facing Republican Assemblyman Brian Nestande of Palm Desert (Riverside County) in a Palm Springs-area district where Republicans hold a 39 to 36 percent registration edge.

-- Democratic Rep. Mark Takano of Riverside, a former high school teacher, is being challenged by Republican Steve Adams, a Riverside City Council member. It's a district Republicans admit will be tough to flip, especially since the most recent federal campaign finance reports show Takano with nearly 10 times more cash on hand than Adams, $393,693 to $39,484.

Republicans also believe they have an outside shot at ousting Democratic Rep. John Garamendi of Walnut Grove (Sacramento County), although they admit it would require a strong GOP tide in November. Garamendi, California's former lieutenant governor, is facing Republican Assemblyman Dan Logue of Marysville (Yuba County).

Democrats also have hopes of picking up seats to add to their 2012 harvest. Their top Republican target is freshman Rep. David Valadao of Hanford (Kings County). The dairy farmer is facing Democrat Amanda Renteria of Sanger (Fresno County), a former aide to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in a district that is heavily Democratic and mostly Latino.

"It's a tough district, except we have David Valadao there," said Houlton of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "He's very popular."

A former assemblyman, Valadao was born in Hanford and steamrolled his Democratic opponent, businessman John Hernandez, in 2012.

Democratic leaders see the race as challenging but not impossible, given Renteria's history as the daughter of Latino farmworkers, an honors graduate and academic All-American in softball at Stanford University, and chief of staff to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee - an important panel in a district reliant on the farm economy.

Get them early

Another potential pickup for the Democrats is the San Bernardino County seat now held by retiring GOP Rep. Gary Miller of Rancho Cucamonga. Democrat Pete Aguilar, the mayor of Redlands, is facing Republican Paul Chabot of Rancho Cucamonga in a district where Democrats hold a growing registration edge.

Both parties know just how important it is to challenge rookie members of Congress early, when they are most vulnerable.

In 2000, for example, Democrats Mike Honda of San Jose, Adam Schiff of Burbank (Los Angeles County), Jane Harman of Venice Beach (Los Angeles County) and Susan Davis of San Diego all won congressional seats previously held by Republicans. Fourteen years later, Harman is the only one not still in Congress, and when she resigned in 2011, another Democrat, Janice Hahn of San Pedro (Los Angeles County), replaced her.

None of those seats is in any danger of turning back from blue to red.