List of special elections to the California State Senate

Elections in California

Special elections to the California State Senate are called by the Governor of California when a vacancy arises within the State Senate. Most special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first is an open primary and the candidate with the most votes must have a majority of the votes plus one to win the seat. If no candidate wins a majority a second round is held with the top candidates for each party.

Recall elections, the process by which voters petition for the removal of an elected official, are also included.

Contents

List of special elections

The dates listed only include the open primary round if no second round was held.[1]

District Date Predecessor Winner
33 October 3, 1961 James McBride (D) Robert Lagomarsino (R)
31 February 13, 1962 John Hollister (R) Alvin Weingand (D)
5 March 16, 1965 Edwin Regan (D) Fred Marler (R)
9 August 15, 1967 Gene McAteer (D) Milton Marks (R)
7 March 25, 1969 George Miller (D) John Nejedly (R)
34 August 18, 1970 John Schmitz (R) Dennis Carpenter (R)
27 July 20, 1971 George Danielson (D) David Roberti (D)
36 June 6, 1972 Gordon Cologne (R) W. Craig Biddle (R)
22 February 27, 1973 Tom Carrell (D) Alan Robbins (D)
38 March 6, 1973 Clair Burgener (R) John Stull (R)
20 January 15, 1974 William Coombs (R) Ruben Ayala (D)
24 July 2, 1974 Robert Lagomarsino (R) Omer Rains (D)
29 April 1, 1975 Mervyn Dymally (D) Bill Greene (D)
6 June 8, 1976 George Moscone (D) John Foran (D)
22 March 8, 1977 Anthony Beilenson (D) Alan Sieroty (D)
31 April 17, 1979 George Deukmejian (R) Ollie Speraw (R)
14 June 9, 1979 George Zenovich (D) Kenneth Maddy (R)
12 June 5, 1980 Jerry Smith (D) Dan O'Keefe (R)
35 April 13, 1982 John Briggs (R) John Seymour (R)
33 May 12, 1987 Paul Carpenter (D) Cecil Green (D)
39 December 5, 1989 Larry Stirling (R) Lucy Killea (D)
31 April 10, 1990 Bill Campbell (R) Frank Hill (R)
26 April 10, 1990 Joseph Montoya (D) Charles Calderon (D)
5 January 8, 1991 John Garamendi (D) Patrick Johnston (D)
1 May 14, 1991 John Doolittle (R) Tim Leslie (R)
35 May 14, 1991 John Seymour (R) John Lewis (R)
20 June 2, 1992 Alan Robbins (D) David Roberti (D)
32 March 2, 1993 Ed Royce (R) Rob Hurtt (R)
2 April 27, 1993 Barry Keene (D) Mike Thompson (D)
16 April 27, 1993 Don Rogers (R) Phil Wyman (R)
4 November 2, 1993 Mike Thompson (D) Maurice Johannessen (R)
11 November 2, 1993 Becky Morgan (R) Tom Campbell (R)
40 December 28, 1993 Wadie Deddeh (D) Steve Peace (D)
29 November 8, 1994 Frank Hill (R) Dick Mountjoy (R)
35 May 9, 1995 Marian Bergeson (R) Ross Johnson (R)
11 March 26, 1996 Tom Campbell (R) Byron Sher (D)
9 September 1, 1998 Barbara Lee (D) Don Perata (D)
32 March 7, 2000 Joe Baca (D) Nell Soto (D)
24 March 6, 2001 Hilda Solis (D) Gloria Romero (D)
35 June 6, 2006 John Campbell (R) Tom Harman (R)
26 May 19, 2009 Mark Ridley-Thomas (D) Curren Price (D)
37 June 8, 2010 John Benoit (R) Bill Emmerson (R)
15 August 17, 2010 Abel Maldonado (R) Sam Blakeslee (R)
1 January 4, 2011 Dave Cox (R) Ted Gaines (R)
17 February 15, 2011 George Runner (R) Sharon Runner (R)
28 February 15, 2011 Jenny Oropeza (D) Ted Lieu (D)

List of recall elections

When applicable, the candidate who succeeded the recalled state senator is listed. If the recall election was not successful the winner is listed as "none".[1]

District Date State senator Winner
20 April 12, 1994 David Roberti (D) None
12 June 3, 2008 Jeff Denham (R) None

Results

35th State Senate district special election, 2006

California's 35th State Senate district special election, 2002
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Tom Harman 89,408 67.61%
Democratic Larry Caballero 42,838 32.39%
Valid votes 132,246 90.66%
Invalid or blank votes 13,629 9.34%
Totals 145,875 100.00%
Voter turnout 28.18%
Republican hold

12th State Senate district recall election, 2008

Main article: California state elections, June 2008#12th State Senate district recall election
California's 12th State Senate district recall election, 2008[2]
Vote on recall Votes Percentage
No 61,309 75.36%
Yes 20,043 24.64%
Valid votes 81,352 95.11%
Invalid or blank votes 4,183 4.89%
Totals 85,535 100.00%
Voter turnout 28.44%
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Simon Salinas 30,946 100.00%
Valid votes 30,946 36.18%
Invalid or blank votes 54,589 63.82%
Totals 85,535 100.00%
Voter turnout 28.44%
Republican hold

26th State Senate district special election, 2009

Main article: California state special elections, 2009#26th State Senate district special election
California's 26th State Senate district special election, 2009[3]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Curren Price 37,677 70.72%
Republican Nachum Shifren 11,097 20.83%
Peace and Freedom Cindy Henderson 4,501 8.45%
Valid votes 53,275 83.24%
Invalid or blank votes 10,726 16.76%
Totals 64,001 100.00%
Voter turnout 18.59%
Democratic hold

37th State Senate district special election, 2010

Main article: California state elections, June 2010#37th State Senate district special election
California's 37th State Senate district special election, 2010[4]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Bill Emmerson 81,655 59.66%
Democratic Justin Blake 41,243 30.13%
American Independent Matt Monica 13,965 10.20%
Totals 136,863 100.00%
Voter turnout 29.18%
Republican hold

15th State Senate district special election, 2010

California's 15th State Senate district special election, 2010[5]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Sam Blakeslee 86,873 48.47%
Democratic John Laird 79,835 44.54%
Independent Jim Fitzgerald 8,937 4.99%
Libertarian Mark Hinkle 3,592 2.00%
Totals 179,237 100.00%
Voter turnout 39.43%
Republican hold

References

  1. ^ a b "Special Election History: 1961 to Present" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2008-04-03. http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/special_election/special_election_history.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-29. 
  2. ^ "Statement of Vote: June 3, 2008, Statewide Direct Primary Election". California Secretary of State. 2008-07-16. Archived from the original on 2008-07-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20080717004808/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_primary_june/sdp08SOV1.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
  3. ^ "Special Election Results: Senate District 26 Special Election, May 19, 2009 - FINAL OFFICIAL RESULTS" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2009-06-01. http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/Special/sd26/final-official-results-sd26-051909.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-28. 
  4. ^ "Official Canvass: State Senator 37th Senate District Special General Election, June 8, 2010" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2010-07-12. http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/Special/sd37/official-results-sd37-general.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  5. ^ "Official Canvass State Senator 15th Senate District Special General Election, August 17, 2010". California Secretary of State. 2010-08-25. http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/Special/sd15/gen-official-canvass.pdf. Retrieved 2010-12-22. 
At-Large · 1864 · 1866 · 1868 · 1870 · 1872 · 1874 · 1876 · 1878 · 1880 · 1882 · 1884 · 1886 · 1888 · 1890 · 1892 · 1894 · 1896 · 1898 · 1900 · 1902 · 1904 · 1906 · 1908 · 1910 · 1912 · 1914 · 1916 · 1918 · 1920 · 1922 · 1924 · 1926 · 1928 · 1930 · 1932 · 1934 · 1936 · 1938 · 1940 · 1942 · 1944 · 1946 · 1948 · 1950 · 1952 · 1954 · 1956 · 1958 · 1960 · 1962 · 1964 · 1966 · 1968 · 1970 · 1972 · 1974 · 1976 · 1978 · 1980 · 1982 · 1984 · 1986 · 1988 · 1990 · 1992 · 1994 · 1996 · 1998 · 2000 · 2002 · 2004 · 2006 · 2008 · 2010 · Special
See also: President | Senate | House of Representatives | Governor | State Assembly