Calif. Rep. Lungren loses reelection bid

Democrat Ami Bera has defeated Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) in one of the closest House races of the cycle.

Bera and Lungren finished within a few hundred votes of one another on election night, but Bera's lead has grown in recent days as mail-in and provisional ballots were counted. He leads Lungren by slightly fewer than 4,000 votes with some ballots still left to be counted.

The Associated Press called the race for Bera late Thursday evening.

The contest was a rematch between the two: Bera narrowly lost to Lungren in 2010, surprising observers with a better-than-expected performance and strong fundraising skills.

This cycle, Democrats made a major target of Lungren, a four-term lawmaker, spending heavily on Bera's behalf and bringing in former President Bill Clinton to campaign for him. Republicans just as strongly supported Lungren.

Their contest featured a lot outside spending, with labor unions, super-PACs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce all heavily involved.

The AP's call leaves five House races undecided: Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) and Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) hold narrow leads in their ballot counts; Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) is disputing his race, where he trails by a few thousand votes; Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) narrowly trails Democrat Scott Peters; and Reps. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) and Jeff Landry (R-La.) are heading to early-December runoffs.

— This story was updated at 8:52 p.m.

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