Undated Stark campaign button shows defeated Congressman's history. (Mpls55408: Flickr)

Twenty-term incumbent Pete Stark lost his re-election bid to Alameda County prosecutor and Dublin city councilman Eric Swalwell — who won with 53 percent of the vote.

It had been a bitterly fought campaign, with sometimes strange allegations from Stark. As KQED’s Cy Musiker reported, “Stark accused Swalwell, without evidence, of taking bribes; he was forced to apologize; and he wrongly accused newspaper columnist Debra Saunders of making political donations to Swalwell, again apologizing after.”

Stark issued a statement this morning:

It has been my honor to serve the people of the East Bay for the last 40 years. I have worked hard to deliver results: accomplishments like writing the COBRA law to make health insurance portable between jobs, bringing the first computers to schools, and crafting President Obama’s groundbreaking health care law.

I went to Washington by running against an unpopular war and for women’s rights, opportunity for children and dignity for seniors. I leave knowing that the landscape has changed, but the needs of my constituents remain.

I congratulate Mr. Swalwell on his victory. I am happy to be of assistance in the future.

I want to thank all the wonderful people I met along this fabulous journey and I will remember them fondly. Together, we have made a real difference

Congress (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

California Report host Scott Shafer looks at these races with reporters Tara Siler from KQED in San Francisco, Steven Cuevas who reports from the Inland Empire for KPCC and The California Report’s election editor Tyche Hendricks.

Scott Shafer, Host: One thing is certain for the first time in memory about a dozen Congressional races in California are actually, well, competitive, up in the air, or even toss ups. We’re going to take a look now at some of them, starting in Northern California and working our way south. Reporter Tara Siler is covering the 7th Congressional District, the suburbs of Sacramento and beyond. Incumbent Republican Dan Lungren fighting for his life there, it’s a rematch from the 2010 election against a Democrat physician Ami Bera. So Tara, tell us what makes this race so interesting.

Tara Siler: Well, what makes it interesting is you have a four-term Republican, conservative Republican, who is fighting for his life. And he’s up against Ami Bera for the second time. And this district has changed; it’s more Democratic under redistricting. And Democrats really see an opportunity here to pick off a conservative Republican, and an incumbent at that. It’s attracted a lot of money, $8 million dollars in outside money. It’s one of the most expensive races in the country. And a lot of it is being thrown at Lundgren by these outside groups.

Shafer: At him meaning on his behalf?

Siler: Against him. Against him by Democratic groups.

Shafer: And how is President Obama figuring into that race if at all? I mean, it’s not a super liberal district, it may be more favorable now to the Democrats than it was a couple years ago but to what extent, is President Obama a factor there?

Siler: Well his name isn’t exactly being bandied about by the candidates it doesn’t seem but the issues are. For example, affordable health care is an issue.

Dr. Bera has said it doesn’t go far enough and Lungren has called it “unconstitutional.” And they also have really starkly different views, not surprising, about the role of government. And as you can hear here, here’s Congressman Lundgren at a recent speech at the Chambers of Commerce:

Dan Lungren: There is a difference between the two of us. He has this great faith in the government. I have limited faith in the government; I have expanded faith in the people. Why? Because that is how it has been when we’ve been successful in the past.

Siler: And you know, for his part, Dr. Bera likes to play up his public school education and the need for more investment in education and infrastructure.

Shafer: Alright, and then finally Tara, just to the west in Alameda County, the 15th Congressional District, and unusual situation there, two Democrats facing off thanks to the top-two primary system that voters approved of. And the incumbent there is Pete Stark, one of the most liberal members of Congress. He’s been there 40 years.  Why is he so vulnerable?

Siler: Well, he’s vulnerable because he’s 80-years-old and he’s made some charges that he’s had to apologize for, a number of them. He talks off the cuff and gets himself in trouble a lot. And Swalwell is young. I see this as a generational challenge. But the interesting thing is that the endorsements for Stark are just lining up. The Democratic leadership is–

Shafer: Circling the wagon

Siler: Circling the wagon, indeed.

Shafer: Alright Tara Siler, thank you so much. Let’s go now to the Inland Empire, which is truly one of those purple parts of California. It includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and tends to go back and forth between Republicans and Democrats in the races for governor and president at least. And a few months ago, Democrats were hoping to pick up one, maybe two seats there, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Reporter Steven Cuevas covers the Inland Empire for KPCC in Los Angeles. And he joins us now.

Steven, what about that 31st Congressional District, San Bernardino. Two Republicans facing off at that race, tell us about it.

Steven Cuevas: Democrats were hoping that they would take this district in the June primary. Pete Aguilar, Mayor of Redlands, the favorite there, he came in third. So now you have Congressman Gary Miller, long-time Congressman serving in Washington, who actually represented the old 42nd District, he’s moved into Rancho Cucamonga to qualify to run in this District. He’s going up against State Senator Bob Dutton. Kind of a local favorite, former Rancho Cucamonga Councilman.

Shafer: And how is the money lining up in that race? You have an incumbent Congressman, although he doesn’t represent that District, versus a pretty well-known Republican, but one who is in the State Legislator.

Cuevas: State Senator Bob Dutton is pretty much been swamped by the fundraising efforts of Congressman Gary Miller, who has actually gotten most of his money from the National Association of Realtors. They’ve poured close to $2 million into this race. Miller is also a home builder and he sits on the Congressional Committee that has oversight over the housing industry.

Shafer: And then Steven, let’s move over a little closer to the city of Riverside to the 41st Congressional District, again, no incumbent running in that District. Democrats have a slight edge in registration, how is that race shaping up?

Cuevas: This one could be a real squeaker. It’s getting a fair amount of national attention as well. You have a long-time Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, the Republican, going up against the high school teacher and College Board Trustee Mark Takano. Both are well-known in the community, and both are well-respected.

Shafer: And Steven Cuevas, he is, Mark Takano, not only openly gay, but Japanese-American. Is that, in some way, helping him in that race do you think?

Cuevas: That’s a little harder to say. You have a fair amount of Asian-Americans in this area but I think what has really resonated with Latino voters, actually, is his family story. The story of immigration, how his family came here, how his grandparents were interned during World War II, and what happened afterwards.

Shafer: And of course, the Inland Empire a very much a growing Latino population so those votes will be important to the winner, I’m sure. Let’s move now to the Inland Empire, towards Palm Springs, a well-known Republican Mary Bono Mack, the widow of Sonny Bono who died while in office several years ago. KQED Politics Editor Tyche Hendricks to talk about that race. Tyche, just how vulnerable is she?

Tyche Hendricks: Right, Mary Bono Mack is a seven-term incumbent. She has easily won reelection in the past. And her opponent this year, Raul Ruiz, has no electoral experience. He was considered a long-shot. But the race is really tightening. Ruiz who is a Harvard trained emergency room doctor, the son of Mexican farm workers has attracted a lot of support from Democrats nationally. They’ve been pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race. And over the course of the Fall the race has moved to really where it’s now a toss-up. And it’s Bono Mack’s to lose.

Shafer: So a case where a compelling biography might be helping Ruiz.

Hendricks: I think his biography resonates. A quarter of the voters in the district are Latinos. They tend to vote more Democratic. But also the district has been redrawn, as all districts have, and it’s less Republican. It still tilts Republican but less so.

Shafer: And let’s go to a race in Los Angeles, specifically the San Fernando Valley where you’ve got two incumbent titans, two Democrats, Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, and the battle of the “ermans” as they say. Lots of money being thrown around in that race. It’s been very tense personally between these two men, what are the dynamics there?

Hendricks: These guys were allies really in Congress, two established Democrats. More than $13 million spent there. One of the most costly races in the country. They’re not that different, it’s been a little hard to distinguish themselves. This is a case where the top-two primary has really given us a new dynamic in California politics. It’s something that we haven’t seen before. It’s going to be a difficult choice for voters but in the end they’re going to be assured of having a Democrat representing their district.

Twenty-term incumbent Pete Stark has a well developed get-out-the-vote operation, but his opponent, Eric Swalwell, is capitalizing on Stark's reported negative attributes. (Photo: Cy Musiker)

Pete Stark has specialized in health care during much of his 40 years in Congress. He’s helped pass some of the nation’s most far-reaching laws in that area, including the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare” to some); a law that says emergency rooms are required to admit patients who can’t pay; and COBRA, which lets workers and their families temporarily remain covered under an employer’s health plan even after leaving their job.

Stark says he considers himself a health care “expert.”

“But there’s lots to be done,” he adds. “I would like to work until we see that every resident of the United States has access to health care regardless of their income or health status.”

In a normal year, voters would probably have granted him yet another term to do that work. But in this election cycle, he has to fight to be re-elected because of the state’s “Top Two” primary system and newly drawn congressional districts that have changed business as usual.

Instead, he faces another Democrat, Eric Swalwell, an ambitious novice who is an Alameda County prosecutor and Dublin city councilman. Swalwell finished just six points behind Stark in the June primary, 42-36 percent.

“In a Democrat vs. Democrat race,” says Jack Pitney, who teaches political science at Claremont McKenna Colleges, “there’s a very reasonable chance he could end up out of Congress.”

Pitney notes Stark has a number of strikes against him. First, more than half of this redrawn district is new to Stark. In addition, Pitney says Stark has squandered the power of incumbency — and the political clout that usually brings — by antagonizing Democrats and Republicans alike with nasty personal attacks.

“He’s among the most despised members of Congress,” Pitney says.

Stark’s Democratic colleagues even passed him over a few years ago when he was in line to become chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, “a stunning, stunning rebuke,” according to Pitney.

Stark’s crankiness is well known to some Bay Area business leaders. Carl Guardino heads San Jose’s Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a trade association. He says he sent a group of start-up CEOs to meet with Stark in Washington a few years ago.

“He came in cursing, yelling, saying profanity to these people,” Guardino recalls. “Obviously the meeting didn’t last long, and it was completely unproductive. Whether you agree with people on policy or not, we need to treat each other with respect. Constituents deserve that; the American public deserves that.”

When asked about that incident, Stark said he didn’t recall it. “If I was short with them, I certainly apologize,” he says. “I do tend to find that people who oppose helping children and helping provide medical care to the poor — I tend to, I guess, not like them.”

But there have been other slip-ups during the campaign that have some wondering if Stark, 80, is still up to the job. Two examples: Stark accused Swalwell, without evidence, of taking bribes; he was forced to  apologized; and he wrongly accused newspaper columnist Debra Saunders of making political donations to Swalwell, again apologizing after.

Here’s the video of Stark, during a debate, accusing Swalwell of taking bribes, then being admonished by the moderator:

Here’s the video of Stark accusing Saunders in front of the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board:

Such incidents have energized the campaign of his 31-year-old challenger.

While Stark spent most of the summer working in Washington, Eric Swalwell has been campaigning hard. He’s knocked on thousands of doors in neighborhoods across Alameda County. On one day in September, he was in San Ramon, a suburb of big houses and cul-de-sacs east of Oakland.

At home after home, he introduced himself, reminding potential voters of his name and why he’s running.

“It kind of upsets me that you have all this voting where all the Republicans vote on one side,” Fitzmaurice told Swalwell, “and all the Democrats vote on the other. I thought they were there to represent the people, and sometimes that aggravates me.”

Swalwell wrapped up the campaign day at a house party 10 miles away in Castro Valley, where he addressed a cheering crowd.

“I’m running because I know this area well,” he told supporters. “I want to see nothing but the best for the area where I grew up, and I believe that the person I’m running against is at the root of the problem in Congress.”

Swalwell says Stark is among the most partisan members of Congress. He argues that Stark has lost touch with his district. Stark’s wife and young children are settled in Maryland. Stark comes home to the district for town halls but less often than some of his Bay Area colleagues, Swalwell says.

At the house party, Teresa Branaugh says Swalwell won her over. Still, I asked why she’d trade a veteran lawmaker for someone who hasn’t even finished his first term on the city council.

Swalwell has a strong grassroots campaign, but Stark has had 40 years to build his political network. The result is name recognition — and the loyalty of many in the district, including Hayward Mayor Mike Sweeney.

Sweeney and others dismiss Stark’s flaring temper as a minor flaw in someone who is a champion of average people needing a voice in Washington.

“Whether it’s getting money for local communities like Hayward to hire more police officers,” Sweeney says, “or helping us start after-school tutoring programs through our library — or standing up to special interests that want to undo Social Security or eliminate Medicare, he’s there, and he’s in touch, and he’s fighting the right fights for us.”

Stark’s incumbency also brings benefits like endorsements from congressional colleagues, President Obama, and most labor unions — plus a powerful get-out-the-vote operation.

In the past, when Stark was running against a Republican, assets like these were always more than enough to put him over the top. But against a fellow liberal like Swalwell, Stark will have to prove he’s still the best Democrat for the job.

Listen to Cy Musiker’s story: