Daniel Edward Lungren was born in Long Beach, California, on September 22, 1946,[1] to a family of Irish, Swedish and Scottish descent.

[4] He anticipated military service during the Vietnam War but was ruled ineligible due to a knee injury he sustained while playing football in high school.

From 1971 to 1972, he was Special Assistant to the co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC); Lungren's wife, Bobbi, worked in the Nixon White House at the time.

Radley Balko wrote in 2012: "Lungren rose in stature with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and quickly became a darling of the tough-on-crime crowd and the rising moral majority movement.

On June 23, 1988, the state Supreme Court ruled that both houses of the legislature had to confirm Lungren's appointment; he thus found himself out of a job in both Washington, D.C. and Sacramento.

He ran as a staunch supporter of capital punishment, and in 1992, executions resumed in California after a 25-year pause, with a total of five occurring under his tenure.

Davis also criticized Lungren's hesitancy, as California Attorney General, to enforce laws restricting assault weapons and his waiting until the last minute to become part of a class action lawsuit against the cigarette industry.

[1] Lungren touted his crime policies and promoted the economic records of the two preceding Republican governors, George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson.

In 2005, Lungren supported the USA PATRIOT Act, which renewed the federal government's ability to perform secret surveillance including wiretaps of citizens and monitoring of public and private computer packet-switched networks to prevent terrorism from hitting the United States.

Also in 2006, he sponsored the "Streamlined Procedures Act" which "would strip federal courts of the power to review habeas corpus petitions in state death penalty cases.

[citation needed] Lungren stated that he opposed "any bill brought to the floor of the House that includes an amnesty provision that confers citizenship status."

He cited his concern as the millions of "legal immigrants who wait years in order to obtain permanent residence and citizenship.

This legislation was to stop the use of submersible and semi-submersible vessels used to transport drugs and other contraband that pose a threat to communities and national security.

[19] Lungren lost his reelection bid for California's 7th congressional district, reapportioned after the 2010 United States census, in the November 2012 election, won by the Democratic challenger, Ami Bera, by a margin of 5,700 votes – 51.1% to 48.9%.

[20] Lungren ran for Congress again in the 3rd congressional district after six-year incumbent U.S. Representative Doug Ose announced his retirement.

He won a come from behind victory in a three-way primary against Mary Ose (sister of Doug) and State Senator Rico Oller in 2004.