Former Rep. Doug Ose to seek Democrat’s congressional seat

Former Republican Rep. Doug Ose said he will announce Tuesday afternoon that he is entering the race for a Northern California congressional seat currently held by Democrat Ami Bera of Elk Grove.

In 2012, Bera defeated longtime Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River) for the district in the suburbs east of Sacramento, and Republicans believe they can take back the seat this time.

Voter registration is nearly evenly divided between Democrats (39%) and Republicans (37%), with 19% of voters unaffiliated with a political party, according to the secretary of state.

Autism activist Elizabeth Emken, who ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein last year, was the first Republican to get into the race against Bera. She lost to Feinstein in the 7th Congressional District 53% to 47% but was defeated by a wider margin statewide.

Ose, a Republican businessman, held a seat in a previous district from 1999 to 2005, when he decided not to seek reelection and was succeeded by Lungren.

He was scheduled to announce his run -- in a district that covers about 70% of his former territory -- on the John McGinness radio show, on KFBK AM 1530, in Sacramento.

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Twitter: @jeanmerl