Lungren campaign: Durston's a knucklehead

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren's (R-Gold River) congressional campaign said Bill Durston was mischaracterizing Lungren's absence from a candidate forum last weekend.

On top of that, he referred to Durston, a Democrat from Gold River, as a "knucklehead."

Tim Clark, a campaign spokesman and strategist for Lungren, said the 3rd Congressional District incumbent had never formally committed to attending the candidate forum last Saturday in Elk Grove that was presented by the Asian Pacific Islanders Public Affairs Association.

Though Lungren campaign officials told APAPA organizers that he wasn't likely to attend, Clark said, the congressman's name was not removed from the website for the event.

Lungren arrived in California late Friday after voting on the Wall Street bailout package that day in Washington, D.C., Clark said. The forum moderator gave business in Washington as Lungren's reason for missing the forum.

"Normally he doesn't mind getting out to that event, but we really didn't know when this vote was going to happen," Clark said.

Clark said that Lungren did attend a previously scheduled fundraiser later Saturday in Murphys at Ironstone Vineyards.

Tickets to singer/songwriter Bonnie Raitt's show that night at the Ironstone Vineyards Amphitheatre were an enticement to Lungren's fundraiser, though Durston's campaign said concertgoers reported that Raitt openly endorsed Durston during her show.

Clark said he'd heard nothing of that and couldn't comment.

"I think had it actually happened, you'd have heard about it before now," Clark said.

He described Durston's claims as part of an ongoing effort to paint himself as a viable candidate against Lungren.

"He's doing what he needs to do to get attention, regardless of how true it is," Clark said, before saying a second time, "Durston's a knucklehead."

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