California's 7th Congressional District elections, 2014

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera Incumbent	50.4%	92,521
	Republican	Doug Ose	49.6%	91,066
Total Votes				183,587
Source: California Secretary of State

2016 → ← 2012

California's 7th Congressional District

General Election Date November 4, 2014

Primary Date June 3, 2014

November 4 Election Winner: Ami Bera

Incumbent prior to election: Ami Bera

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Toss Up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean D

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2014 U.S. Senate Elections

2014 U.S. House Elections

On November 19, 2014, more than two weeks after the Nov. 4 general election, incumbent Ami Bera (D) was declared the winner in the nation's most expensive House race of the 2014 election cycle with a total price tag of $20,721,764.

After winning, Bera said, "It's been my honor serving this community as a doctor for the last nineteen years, and I am grateful I will have the opportunity to continue serving as the representative for California's 7th Congressional District in Congress."

Ballotpedia identified California's 7th Congressional District as a battleground district because it only slightly favored Democrats, and Obama won the district by 5 percent or less in 2008 and 2012. Additionally, Bera was identified as a vulnerable incumbent by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

Fueled by more than $13 million from outside groups, citizens of California's 7th Congressional District were bombarded with ads opposing candidates in this battleground district. With the help of the DCCC, freshman incumbent Bera, who won election in 2012 by only 3.4 percent, accused his challenger Doug Ose (R) of getting rich while he served in Congress. Ose represented California's 3rd Congressional District from 1999 to 2005. With the help of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Ose tied Bera to Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama and accused him of supporting a $716 billion dollar cut to Medicaid.

Despite the call from president and CEO of News & Review newspapers, Jeff vonKaenel, for the candidates and super PACs to focus on issues instead of spreading lies through "slime-filled" ads, Californians continued seeing Bera and Ose critique each other on the airwaves up until Election Day.

During his concession speech, Ose criticized the political system and attacks on his professional success. He said, "Let me begin by saying that I celebrate the fact that our institutions and our laws provide us a system whereby elections can be peacefully resolved. I congratulate Congressman Bera on his victory. I regret that one of the themes in this election appears to have been that successful people by the very nature of their success are unworthy of elective office. In fact, people who are successful in the private sector are exactly the people we want to step forward and run for public office."

In their only scheduled debate held October 8, Bera and Ose's major point of disagreement was healthcare. Ose argued that he was in favor of replacing the Affordable Care Act with a bill that would not “kill jobs”. He also expressed concern that the Affordable Care Act “strips 716 billion dollars from Medicare, which is a safety net that our seniors have come to rely upon.” Bera, a doctor, supported fixing the Affordable Care Act. He said, “Now, the Affordable Care Act is not the solution that I would have come up with as a doctor and a healthcare expert, but it is now the law. So let’s take this law. Let’s fix it and let’s make it better.”

The race was labeled a toss-up by Real Clear Politics and The Rothenberg Political Report.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
March 7, 2014	June 3, 2014	November 4, 2014

Primary: California uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.

Unlike the top-two format used in some states (Louisiana and Georgia special elections for example), a general election between the top-two candidates in California occurs regardless of whether the top candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round of elections.

As of October 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system for some or all statewide primaries. See here for more information.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by May 19, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 20, 2014 (the 15th calendar day before that election).

See also: California elections, 2014

Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Ami Bera (D), who was first elected in 2012.

As of the 2010 redistricting cycle, California's 7th Congressional District was located in the central portion of the state and included much of Sacramento County.

Candidates

General election candidates

Ami Bera a

Doug Ose

June 3, 2014, primary results

Ami Bera - Incumbent a

Igor Birman

Elizabeth Emken - 2012 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate

Doug Ose a

Douglas Arthur Tuma

Phill Tufi

Election results

General election

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera Incumbent	50.4%	92,521
	Republican	Doug Ose	49.6%	91,066
Total Votes				183,587
Source: California Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. House, California District 7 Primary, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera Incumbent	46.7%	51,878
	Republican	Doug Ose	26.4%	29,307
	Republican	Igor Birman	17.5%	19,431
	Republican	Elizabeth Emken	7.1%	7,924
	Libertarian	Art Tuma	1.5%	1,629
	Independent	Phill Tufi	0.8%	869
Total Votes				111,038
Source: California Secretary of State

Race background

Vulnerable incumbent

Bera was identified as a vulnerable incumbent in 2014. He was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program, which was designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents heading into the 2014 election.

Blanket primary

While Bera was almost certain to advance past the blanket primary on June 5, his general election opponent could have meant the difference between whether he was re-elected or ousted in November. Ose, the Republican frontrunner in the race, defeated the other Republican candidates in the primary. Bera would likely have preferred to face Igor Birman in the general election, who was seen as being more conservative than Ose. Ose had a reputation of being a moderate Republican. Ose led the other Republican candidates in polling and fundraising prior to the primary.

Satellite spending

With a total price tag of $20,721,764, the race for California's 7th Congressional District seat was the most expensive House race of the 2014 election cycle. Bera raised $3,727,211 while Ose raised $3,215,639. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) were the top two outside groups who spent money in this race. The DCCC spent $4,561,579 and the NRCC spent $3,213,304.

Bera commented on the satellite spending in the race saying, "They want to buy Doug Ose's vote, and they're spending millions of dollars to get that vote. So, what we have to do is, as the people who live here, we have to rise up and say our democracy is about fighting for our community."

Ose commented on the DCCC's spending saying, "The reality is the Democratic side wouldn't be spending two and a half or three million dollars on this race if they didn't know they had a problem."

Debate

In their only scheduled debate held October 8, Bera and Ose agreed that California’s “Yes Means Yes” law, “which creates the standard on all California campuses that the absence of no does not mean consent for sex” helps protect women. They also partially agreed on how to address the nation’s immigration problem. Ose said, “I think the first step that we need to take on immigration is to secure our borders and our ports of entry to prevent additional individuals coming in here that we don’t know who they are or where they come from.” Bera agreed that the border needed to be secured and added, “I am a co-sponsor, though, of the comprehensive immigration bill that passed in a bipartisan way out of the Senate.” Bera, however, did not address whether or not he supported amnesty for those in the country illegally.

When asked about California’s three-year drought hurting farmers and resulting in rising food costs, Bera argued that he helped get funding for Folsom Dam. He said, “When completed, that will allow us to hold on to more water during dry years and then we obviously also have a flood risk here so in years that are really wet it will keep our community more safe. We’ve got to increase storage capacity. We’ve done dozens of workshops working with the residents in the community and the water districts to let people know what they can do as well, and Sacramento County residents should be very proud of themselves. We’ve reduced our water consumption by about 20 percent. Now, we’ve got a ways to go.”

Ose countered by accusing Bera of declining “to make any effort to reduce the outflows from Folsom Dam.” He said, “For the past 15 months, I’ve been talking about reducing the outflows from Folsom Dam because of the very real possibility that we’re going to need that water, and here we are. We need the water. Congressman Bera has declined to make any effort to reduce the outflows from Folsom Dam. He has today, or recently at least, come out in opposition to the tunnels which is opposite of what he was in 2010 when he was in favor of the tunnels. My problem here is we need solutions. We’ve got to protect our water resources and stop spending it – excuse me, stop sending it south. You understand, please, additional releases from Folsom Dam constitute taking our water and sending it south to Los Angeles. Congressman Bera has not spoken up on this. He has not picked up the phone and talked to the bureau about reducing outflows. That’s why we’re sending out thousands of feet per hour more than are flowing into Folsom. That has to stop.”

Their major point of disagreement was healthcare. Ose argued that he was in favor of replacing the Affordable Care Act with a bill that would not “kill jobs”. He explained, “And while there are a couple things within the 3,000 pages of the Affordable Care Act that have merit, the vast majority of the bill is not consistent with the needs of this country. What we need to do is make sure that people can have coverage for pre-existing conditions, that we allow them to shop across state lines to get the best deal, and that we allow them to pick their own doctor." He also expressed concern that the Affordable Care Act “strips 716 billion dollars from Medicare, which is a safety net that our seniors have come to rely upon.”

Bera, a doctor, supported fixing the Affordable Care Act. He said, “Now, the Affordable Care Act is not the solution that I would have come up with as a doctor and a healthcare expert, but it is now the law. So let’s take this law. Let’s fix it and let’s make it better. Let’s address the cost of care. That’s why I’ve worked across the aisle to come up with no-nonsense solutions working with Republicans like the Small Business and Family Relief Act that helps lower the cost of care to the average Sacramento County family. That would be $600 a year on average right back into their pockets.”

The debate ended with each candidate attacking the other. Ose argued that Bera had hurt seniors by cutting $716 billion from Medicare. Bera argued that Ose would only protect the interests of Wall Street bankers, if he was elected.

Polls

General election
Poll	Ami Bera	Doug Ose	Undecided	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Garin-Hart-Yang (September 17-18, 2014)	47%	43%	10%	+/-4.7	406
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Primary election
Poll	Ami Bera	Doug Ose	Igor Birman	Elizabeth Emken	Undecided	Margin of Error	Sample Size
DCCC internal poll (May 1-2, 2014)	47%	22%	17%	7%	7%	+/-4.1	567
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Media

Igor Birman

Igor Birman - "The Real Conservative."

Ad attacking Doug Ose for being "too liberal."

Doug Ose

Doug Ose - "Fiscal Conservative."

Ad promising to fight Obamacare.

Issues

See also: Energy and the 2014 election: the ballots and beyond

Ami Bera

Bera's campaign website listed the following issues:

“	National Security: "In Congress, I will uphold our most enduring principles, while protecting America from those who threaten our freedoms. I believe we must be tough and smart not only about today's challenges, such as terrorism and homeland security, but also about emerging threats, such as nuclear proliferation." Medicare: "Glaringly absent from the current debate about Medicare is the Doctor’s perspective. As a physician who has worked at every level of the health care system and a candidate for Congress, I bring a unique perspective to the Medicare discussion." Job Creation and Economic Recovery: "Living in Sacramento County, it is obvious that people are hurting. They are trying to do the right thing, to work hard and care for their families. But too often this is not enough. For too many, America’s promise of opportunity is beginning to seem empty." Creating a New Energy Economy: "Central to our national mission is the mandate to build for future generations. We now know, however, that many of our present patterns of development and growth are both economically and environmentally unsustainable. The long-term health, security and prosperity of our nation and world require a transition in how we think about our relationship to energy use and natural ecosystems." Moving Forward with Healthcare: "I have spent my professional life caring for people and educating the next generation of doctors. Unfortunately, the system consistently puts bureaucracies before the health of our patients. I have witnessed medical costs skyrocket without seeing patient care improve. And I have treated patients who would be healthier if they could have afforded basic preventive care. This is the result of an industry that puts profits before patients."	”
—Ami Bera's campaign website, http://www.beraforcongress.com/issues

Doug Ose

Ose's campaign website listed the following issues:

“	Putting Our Community First, not the Special Interests: "Our economy is stalled by sluggish growth and one of the slowest recoveries in history. It simply isn’t providing enough opportunity for Americans who need to find a job, expand their business or hire more workers. Full time employment is becoming harder to find with the advent of Obamacare, and employers are shifting to more part-time workers." Drought/Protecting Local Water Supply: "We have a real water crisis here in the Sacramento region. While man has no control over Mother Nature, poor management practices and government’s failure to build sufficient upstream retention facilities have made our region’s drought even worse. When it was predicted that California’s population was to grow by millions of people, having a shortage of local water was foreseeable." Reducing the Tax Burden: "America’s complicated and contradictory tax system benefits the politically connected at the expense of people who work hard and play by the rules. Every year, Americans are asked to pay more in taxes and receive less in public services. The federal government is now borrowing 40 cents of every dollar to sustain unprecedented deficit spending." Holding Government Accountable: "Government spending is growing at a record pace under President Obama. Our nation’s debt is out of control. This unsustainable and reckless spending puts our financial security at risk, and burdens the American taxpayer more every day. It’s time to hold government accountable for the money it spends and the decisions it makes." Our Schools: Local Control, World-Class Standards: "Every school must be a place where every student can learn. And without world-class standards in school, America’s future is threatened. That is why education decisions must be made by parents and local school boards, not bureaucrats in Washington, D.C."	”
—Doug Ose's campaign website, http://www.dougose.com/issues

Key votes

Below are important votes cast by Bera during the 113th Congress.

HR 644

See also: Bowe Bergdahl exchange

On September 9, 2014, the Republican-run House approved H.R. 644, a resolution criticizing President Barack Obama's act of exchanging five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The House voted 249-163 for resolution, with all Republicans and 22 Democrats supporting the bill. Fourteen Democrats and five Republicans did not vote on the resolution, while all other Democrats opposed its passage. Ami Bera dissented from the majority of the Democratic party and voted in favor of the bill.

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201. At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference. Ami Bera voted against the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies. The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Ami Bera voted for HR 2775.

Campaign contributions

Ami Bera

Ami Bera (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	April 15, 2013	$107,506.27	$303,492.73	$(80,953.03)	$330,045.97
July Quarterly	July 15, 2013	$330,045.97	$272,095.66	$(97,097.63)	$505,044.00
October Quarterly	October 15, 2013	$505,044.00	$462,073.51	$(68,369.39)	$898,748.12
Year-End	January 31, 2014	$898,748	$340,671	$(87,782)	$1,151,637
April Quarterly	April 15, 2014	$1,151,637	$491,299	$(173,962)	$1,468,974
Pre-Primary	May 22, 2014	$1,468,974	$281,601	$(152,654)	$1,597,921
July Quarterly	July 15, 2014	$1,597,921	$439,933	$(71,635)	$1,966,219
October Quarterly	October 15, 2014	$1,966,219	$892,403	$(2,044,043)	$814,579
Pre-General	October 24, 2014	$814,579	$248,978	$(717,058)	$346,500
			Running totals
			$3,732,546.9	$(3,493,554.05)

Doug Ose

Doug Ose (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	April 15, 2013	$25,667.22	$0.00	$(0.00)	$25,667.22
July Quarterly	July 15, 2013	$25,667.22	$9,200.00	$(2,210.77)	$32,656.45
October Quarterly	October 15, 2013	$32,656.45	$489,267.15	$(265,680.94)	$256,242.66
Year-End	January 31, 2014	$256,242	$129,984	$(109,060)	$277,166
April Quarterly	April 16, 2014	$277,166	$481,476	$(341,002)	$417,640
Pre-Primary	May 22, 2014	$417,640	$120,853	$(324,160)	$214,334
July Quarterly	July 15, 2014	$214,334	$332,785	$(343,298)	$203,820
October Quarterly	October 15, 2014	$203,820	$1,058,811	$(991,241)	$271,390
Pre-General	October 23, 2014	$271,390	$843,259	$(625,694)	$488,954
			Running totals
			$3,465,635.15	$(3,002,346.71)

Igor Birman

Igor Birman (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
October Quarterly	October 15, 2013	$0.00	$162,613.23	$(23,892.80)	$138,720.43
Year-End	January 31, 2014	$138,720	$84,959	$(99,406)	$124,273
April Quarterly	April 15, 2014	$124,273	$110,892	$(164,811)	$70,354
Pre-Primary	May 22, 2014	$70,354	$143,940	$(168,648)	$45,645
			Running totals
			$502,404.23	$(456,757.8)

Elizabeth Emken

Elizabeth Emken (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
July Quarterly	July 11, 2013	$0.00	$301,819.99	$(13,644.42)	$288,175.57
October Quarterly	October 15, 2013	$288,175.57	$100,573.85	$(51,854.69)	$336,894.73
Year-End	January 31, 2014	$336,894	$48,605	$(79,372)	$305,826
April Quarterly	April 15, 2014	$305,826	$110,679	$(196,209)	$220,351
Pre-Primary	May 22, 2014	$220,351	$50,471	$(64,757)	$206,065
			Running totals
			$612,148.84	$(405,837.11)

**As of the 2014 Pre-Primary Report, Emken's committee owed $285,000 in outstanding loans to Elizabeth Emken.

Douglas Arthur Tuma

Douglas Arthur Tuma (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	September 12, 2013	$14	$500	$(27)	$487
July Quarterly	September 12, 2013	$487	$0	$(27)	$460
October Quarterly	October 16, 2013	$460	$0	$(18)	$442
Year-End	February 3, 2014	$442	$0	$(0)	$442
April Quarterly	April 22, 2014	$442	$0	$(9)	$433
Pre-Primary	June 1, 2014	$433	$0	$(18)	$415
			Running totals
			$500	$(99)

District history

Candidate ballot access
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

2012

On November 6, 2012, Ami Bera (D) won election to the United States House. He defeated Dan Lungren in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera	51.7%	141,241
	Republican	Dan Lungren Incumbent	48.3%	132,050
Total Votes				273,291
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010

On November 2, 2010, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Rick Tubbs (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	68.3%	122,435
	Republican	Rick Tubbs	31.7%	56,764
Total Votes				179,199

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2014
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2014
• Battleground Friday: California's 7th Congressional District
• U.S. House battleground districts, 2014

External links

• California Elections & Voter Information
• California Secretary of State, Official primary candidate list

Footnotes

[show]

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Alex Padilla (D)

Adam Schiff (D)

Representatives

District 1

Doug LaMalfa (R)

District 2

Jared Huffman (D)

District 3

Kevin Kiley (R)

District 4

Mike Thompson (D)

District 5

Tom McClintock (R)

District 6

Ami Bera (D)

District 7

Doris Matsui (D)

District 8

John Garamendi (D)

District 9

Josh Harder (D)

District 10

Mark DeSaulnier (D)

District 11

Nancy Pelosi (D)

District 12

Lateefah Simon (D)

District 13

Adam Gray (D)

District 14

Eric Swalwell (D)

District 15

Kevin Mullin (D)

District 16

Sam Liccardo (D)

District 17

Ro Khanna (D)

District 18

Zoe Lofgren (D)

District 19

Jimmy Panetta (D)

District 20

Vince Fong (R)

District 21

Jim Costa (D)

District 22

David Valadao (R)

District 23

Jay Obernolte (R)

District 24

Salud Carbajal (D)

District 25

Raul Ruiz (D)

District 26

Julia Brownley (D)

District 27

George Whitesides (D)

District 28

Judy Chu (D)

District 29

Luz Rivas (D)

District 30

Laura Friedman (D)

District 31

Gil Cisneros (D)

District 32

Brad Sherman (D)

District 33

Pete Aguilar (D)

District 34

Jimmy Gomez (D)

District 35

Norma Torres (D)

District 36

Ted Lieu (D)

District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)

District 38

Linda Sánchez (D)

District 39

Mark Takano (D)

District 40

Young Kim (R)

District 41

Ken Calvert (R)

District 42

Robert Garcia (D)

District 43

Maxine Waters (D)

District 44

Nanette Barragán (D)

District 45

Derek Tran (D)

District 46

Lou Correa (D)

District 47

Dave Min (D)

District 48

Darrell Issa (R)

District 49

Mike Levin (D)

District 50

Scott Peters (D)

District 51

Sara Jacobs (D)

District 52

Juan Vargas (D)

Democratic Party (45)

Republican Party (9)