1994 United States Senate election in California

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1994 United States Senate election in California
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←  1992 (special) November 8, 1994 2000  →
  Senator Feinstein (1).jpg Michael Huffington Dod.jpg
Nominee Dianne Feinstein Michael Huffington
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote3,979,1523,817,025
Percentage46.74%44.83%
1994 United States Senate election in California results map by county.svg
County results
Feinstein:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Huffington:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Dianne Feinstein
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Dianne Feinstein
Democratic

The 1994 United States Senate election in California was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein won re-election to her first full term. By a margin of 1.9%, this election was the closest race of the 1994 Senate election cycle. This election was the first time ever that an incumbent Democratic Senator from California was re-elected or won re-election to this seat.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Dianne Feinstein (incumbent) 1,635,837 74.20%
Democratic Ted J. Andromedas297,12813.48%
Democratic Daniel O'Dowd271,61512.32%
Total votes2,204,580 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Michael Huffington 1,072,358 55.43%
Republican William E. Dannemeyer 565,86429.25%
Republican Kate Squires202,95010.49%
Republican Wolf G. Dalichau58,3073.01%
Republican John M. Brown35,2121.82%
Total votes1,934,691 100.00

Other nominations

Peace & Freedom Party

Peace & Freedom primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Cervantes Barron 3,487 70.70
Peace and Freedom Larry D. Hampshire1,44529.30
Total votes4,932 100.00

Libertarian Party

Libertarian primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Libertarian Richard Boddie 120,622 100.00
Total votes120,622 100.00

American Independent Party

American Independent primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
American Independent Paul Meeuwenberg 13,596 100.00
Total votes13,596 100.00

Green Party

While there was no primary election for the Green Party, Barbara Blong got the nomination of the party and represented them in the general election.

General election

Candidates

Campaign

After one term in the House representing Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, Huffington spent $8 million by the end of August and a total of $28 million during the entire campaign. He became wealthy off oil and gas. The race saw personal attacks on Huffington's wife, Arianna Huffington, who was very involved in the race (the media dubbed her the "Sir Edmund Hillary of social climbing," according to The Almanac of American Politics ).

Huffington was called a hypocrite for supporting Proposition 187 and then breaking the law for employing illegal aliens, a story which came out in the race's final days. [4] $44 million was spent in the election. At the time, it was the most expensive campaign in a non-presidential election in American history. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post named the election one of the nastiest senate elections in modern history. [5]

Results

On election day it was a very close race, but Feinstein won Los Angeles County, which may have pulled her ahead. Her sizable win in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area may also be credited to her slim statewide victory. A large number of absentee ballots left the results in doubt for over two weeks. On November 18, Senator Feinstein declared victory. At that time, she was ahead by 147,404 votes, with only 156,210 remaining uncounted ballots. [6] Huffington had not conceded at that point, saying that there was evidence of voter fraud and calling for an investigation. He had already filed a legal complaint, which had already been dismissed. [6] As of December 23, Huffington still contended that there may have been voting fraud and had not conceded. [7]

Overall

1994 United States Senate election in California [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Dianne Feinstein (incumbent) 3,979,152 46.74%
Republican Michael Huffington 3,817,02544.83%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Cervantes Barron 255,3013.00%
Libertarian Richard Benjamin Boddie179,1002.10%
American Independent Paul Meeuwenberg142,7711.68%
Green Barbara Blong140,5671.65%
Write-in 173<0.01%
Invalid or blank votes386,5474.34% [lower-alpha 1]
Majority162,1271.90%
Total votes8,514,089 100.00%
Turnout  44.94% [lower-alpha 2]
Democratic hold

By county

Final results from the Secretary of State. [8]

County Feinstein Votes Huffington Votes Barron VotesBoddieVotesOthersVotes
San Francisco 79.16%185,54315.39%36,0831.90%4,4521.05%2,4722.50%5,854
Marin 70.86%74,66424.42%25,7331.31%1,3801.39%1,4622.02%2,125
Alameda 68.34%271,45625.21%100,1202.35%9,3231.45%5,7782.65%10,539
San Mateo 64.24%136,68629.94%63,7022.05%4,3621.50%3,1872.28%4,850
Contra Costa 57.94%170,25636.02%105,8542.06%6,0561.51%4,4372.47%7,268
Sonoma 57.53%91,16434.04%53,9382.94%4,6532.01%3,1783.48%5,519
Santa Cruz 57.07%52,05632.31%29,4663.96%3,6132.49%2,2674.17%3,807
Santa Clara 55.79%245,23235.93%157,9222.96%13,0292.14%9,4033.18%13,983
Yolo 54.87%26,79336.56%17,8513.18%1,5531.86%9063.54%1,729
Los Angeles 51.53%1,046,02640.38%819,5943.35%67,9931.97%39,9522.78%56,332
Solano 51.01%49,92041.03%40,1582.90%2,8341.68%1,6453.38%3,312
Napa 50.73%21,34041.33%17,3882.33%9821.82%7663.78%1,592
Mendocino 50.27%15,00839.90%11,9123.20%9552.72%8123.92%1,169
Sacramento 47.85%168,07343.88%154,1282.85%9,9941.84%6,4463.58%12,584
Santa Barbara 47.16%60,81143.29%55,8252.84%3,6642.29%2,9564.41%5,686
Alpine 46.72%31342.09%2824.93%332.24%154.03%27
Monterey 46.52%42,24643.94%39,9054.20%3,8141.55%1,4113.79%3,439
Humboldt 46.04%21,81743.77%20,7422.54%1,2022.31%1,0935.35%2,534
Lake 44.76%8,67546.66%9,0432.32%4492.33%4513.94%763
San Benito 40.89%4,73547.28%5,4765.32%6162.13%2474.38%507
San Joaquin 39.89%50,21852.00%65,4662.88%3,6221.55%1,9543.69%4,646
Fresno 39.70%69,89252.73%92,8183.33%5,8661.38%2,4262.86%5,033
Tuolumne 39.54%7,69352.26%10,1692.46%4792.11%4103.63%706
Merced 39.02%15,09252.67%20,3723.44%1,3291.59%6163.29%1,272
Stanislaus 38.93%38,41451.91%51,2243.21%3,1691.68%1,6584.27%4,217
Ventura 38.57%82,47250.98%108,9933.59%7,6712.70%5,7734.16%8,891
San Luis Obispo 38.36%32,77751.83%44,2852.74%2,3452.49%2,1274.57%3,905
Imperial 38.33%9,08649.46%11,7247.32%1,7351.38%3283.51%832
Amador 38.25%4,95053.32%6,9001.94%2512.23%2884.26%551
San Diego 37.82%279,24953.17%392,5293.08%22,7452.48%18,3143.45%25,441
Nevada 37.37%13,98753.64%20,0762.06%7712.73%1,0234.19%1,570
Placer 36.93%27,93454.28%41,0582.33%1,7592.20%1,6664.27%3,231
El Dorado 36.77%19,88854.37%29,4022.05%1,1092.46%1,3314.35%2,352
Plumas 36.53%3,08254.03%4,5592.71%2292.61%2204.12%348
Mono 35.98%1,26353.25%1,8692.42%852.48%875.87%206
Mariposa 35.53%2,52055.20%3,9152.23%1582.26%1604.78%339
Calaveras 35.17%5,46754.30%8,4412.32%3602.90%4505.31%826
Siskiyou 34.58%6,25655.50%10,0402.92%5292.59%4684.41%798
Del Norte 34.51%2,55356.16%4,1542.16%1602.22%1644.95%366
Butte 34.45%23,31757.03%38,6002.64%1,7892.20%1,4923.68%2,490
Sierra 34.25%54854.31%8693.06%493.94%634.44%71
Kings 33.98%7,59256.96%12,7253.79%8461.45%3233.82%854
Riverside 33.95%115,33356.11%190,6153.41%11,5822.58%8,7553.96%13,438
San Bernardino 33.34%114,02755.95%191,3433.73%12,7522.89%9,8764.09%13,986
Madera 32.56%8,61359.26%15,6752.84%7501.71%4523.63%960
Lassen 32.44%2,63956.51%4,5972.83%2302.79%2275.43%442
Orange 31.88%239,01058.87%441,3982.71%20,3082.92%21,9013.62%27,175
Trinity 31.87%1,70354.53%2,9143.71%1983.89%2086.01%321
Tulare 31.45%24,24459.77%46,0743.72%2,8711.76%1,3593.29%2,535
Yuba 29.70%4,15859.75%8,3653.06%4292.44%3415.05%707
Colusa 29.34%1,44963.29%3,1262.77%1371.48%733.12%154
Tehama 27.94%5,14261.55%11,3292.84%5222.67%4925.00%921
Shasta 27.83%15,07762.99%34,1292.51%1,3622.21%1,2004.46%2,417
Sutter 27.23%5,95865.09%14,2422.55%5591.63%3573.50%766
Kern 26.63%39,98763.61%95,5043.43%5,1532.15%3,2294.17%6,259
Inyo 25.96%1,84164.95%4,6062.51%1782.14%1524.44%315
Modoc 24.77%95163.72%2,4472.55%983.23%1245.73%220
Glenn 24.68%1,95667.51%5,3512.01%1591.63%1294.18%331
California counties shift 1992 (special)-1994 senate.svg
California counties trend 1992 (special)-1994 senate.svg

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Votes not cast" as a percentage of votes cast anywhere statewide, which numbered 8,900,593. [8]
  2. ↑ As a percentage of the voting eligible population (VEP), estimated at 18.946 million. [8]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Defying the Odds?" . The Los Angeles Times . p. 74. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "1996 California Voter Information: Statement". vote96.sos.ca.gov. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Citizen Kate: an Election Race Against Conventional Wisdom" . The Los Angeles Times . April 4, 1994. p. 59. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  4. ↑ B. Drummond Ayres Jr. (October 27, 1994). "THE 1994 CAMPAIGN: CALIFORNIA; Huffington Admits Hiring Illegal Alien". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Chris Cillizza (July 1, 2010). "The 10 nastiest Senate races". The Washington Post The Fix blog. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012.
  6. 1 2 B. Drummond Ayres Jr. (November 19, 1994). "THE NEW CONGRESS: CALIFORNIA; Feinstein Claims Victory in Senate Race". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ B. Drummond Ayres Jr. (December 26, 1994). "Nov. 8 Is Long Gone, but the California Election Lingers On, and On and On". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Jones, Bill (December 16, 1994). "STATEMENT OF VOTE: November 8, 1994, General Election" (PDF). Office of the California Secretary of State. p. xii,37. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  9. ↑ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. "STATISTICS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 8, 1994" (PDF). United States House of Representatives. p. 3,6. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
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