< p>WASHINGTON (AP) — A longtime House Democrat struggling to win against a fellow Democrat in California has picked up an unlikely endorsement: the backing of two Senate Republicans.

Rep. Howard Berman faces Rep. Brad Sherman in November thanks to the redrawing of congressional boundaries and California's primary system.

Two of the GOP's leading lawmakers on national security — Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham — along with independent Sen. Joe Lieberman announced Monday that they are backing Berman, the top Democrat on House Foreign Affairs Committee.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, called Berman a "man of determination and honor." Graham said Berman knows how to work on a bipartisan basis.

Berman also is supported by Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown and the state's two Democratic senators — Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.