Born in Long Beach, California of Irish and Swedish extraction, Lungren now calls Gold River his home, although he is described in some press reports and in the official House roll as "R-Folsom". He is married to Bobbi Lungren and has three children.

Lungren earned a A.B. with honors in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1968. After graduating, he returned to California to chair "Youth for Nixon." He began law school at the University of Southern California and later transferred to Georgetown University Law Center from which he earned his J.D. in 1971.

Lungren has served once before in the House, from 1979-1989, representing California's 34th Congressional District, based in Long Beach. He was one of Newt Gingrich's chief lieutenants during this time, and was a founding member of the Conservative Opportunity Society. During his first tenure in Congress, Lungren was a harbinger of the "angry young man" style of conservative politics that has now become common among Republicans. He served on the House Judiciary Committee, where his signature issue was immigration. He pushed for sanctions against employers who hired illegal immigrants, but has also supported limited amnesty programs for some illegal aliens. He left the House when California Governor George Deukmejian appointed him as California's acting State Treasurer, but was never confirmed (see ).

He was elected California Attorney General in 1990 and served two terms in that post. In 1998 Lungren ran as the Republican candidate for Governor of California, but was defeated by Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis. Lungren won the support of 38.4f the voters while Davis received 57.9f the votes.

Lungren has said his desire to serve in Congress was rekindled by the September 11, 2001 attacks. He quickly won support from the Republican establishment and easily won the Republican primary. The 3rd District had been in Democratic hands for 36 years after its creation in 1963 (it was originally the 4th District from 1963-93), most notably under Vic Fazio from 1979-99, but went to Republican Doug Ose in 1999. It had been redrawn after the 2000 census to be much friendlier to Republicans, and Lungren easily won in November, returning to Congress after a 16-year absence.

Lungren was reappointed to the Judiciary Committee based on his previous five terms of seniority, and also serves on the Budget and Homeland Security committees. He has expressed an interest in becoming involved in immigration issues again.