The following comes from a November 7 posting on SFGate.com.

Democrat Ami Bera is ahead by a razor-thin 184-votes against California GOP stalwart Dan Lungren in Sacramento, with 88,406 votes to Lungren’s 88,222. Lungren is not conceding.

Bera is part of a new generation of Indian American and Mexican American immigrants or children of immigrants who are knocking on the political gates. They reflect the broader national demographic shift that handed President Obama re-election.

Bera’s advantage is due in part to a fresh district redrawn along community lines by a citizen redistricting commission. It was already a swing district but it became more evenly divided when Lungren lost some of his rural strongholds.

Lungren has been a fixture of California politics for decades, serving two terms as state attorney general and two stints in Congress, the first from Southern California, and making a failed bid for governor. A conservative Catholic who opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, leading the fight by House Republicans to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, Lungren sought to downplay social issues in his campaign.

Lungren campaign manager Jeff Wyly just put out this statement:

“Dan asked me to update you on the state of our race, which is currently one of the closest contests in the nation. There are tens of thousands of absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted, and we may not know the outcome of this race for days or even weeks….”

To read the original posting, click here.