List of special elections to the California State Senate

Last updated

Special elections to the California State Senate are called by the Governor of California when a vacancy arises within the State Senate. Special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first round is an open primary. The second round is cancelled if one of the candidates receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round. Prior to 2012, the top vote getter from each party in the first round would advance to the second round. Since the passage of Proposition 14 in 2010 (which became effective 2012), the top two vote getters in the first round, regardless of party, advance to the second round.

Contents

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

List of special elections

The dates listed indicate the time of the final election, either a runoff election or the open primary round if no second round was held.

DistrictDatePredecessorWinner
33 October 3, 1961James McBride (D) Robert Lagomarsino (R)
31 February 13, 1962John Hollister (R)Alvin Weingand (D)
5 March 16, 1965Edwin Regan (D) Fred W. Marler Jr. (R)
9 August 15, 1967 J. Eugene McAteer (D) Milton Marks (R) [a]
7 March 25, 1969 George Miller Jr. (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, 1974William 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 Francis 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 N. Zenovich (D) Kenneth Maddy (R)
12 June 5, 1980Jerry Smith (D) Dan O'Keefe (R)
35 April 13, 1982 John Briggs (R) John Seymour (R)
33 May 12, 1987 Paul B. Carpenter (D) Cecil Green (D)
39 December 5, 1989 Lawrence W. Stirling (R) Lucy Killea (D)
31 April 10, 1990 William Campbell (R) Frank Hill (R)
26 April 10, 1990 Joseph B. 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 P. 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)
4 January 8, 2013 Doug LaMalfa (R) Jim Nielsen (R)
40 March 2, 2013 Juan Vargas (D) Ben Hueso (D)
32 May 14, 2013 Gloria Negrete McLeod (D) Norma Torres (D)
16 July 23, 2013 Michael Rubio (D) Andy Vidak (R)
26 September 17, 2013 Curren Price (D) Holly Mitchell (D)
23 March 25, 2014 Bill Emmerson (R) Mike Morrell (R)
35 December 9, 2014 Rod Wright (D) Isadore Hall, III (D)
21 March 17, 2015 Steve Knight (R) Sharon Runner (R)
37 March 17, 2015 Mimi Walters (R) John Moorlach (R)
7 May 19, 2015 Mark DeSaulnier (D) Steve Glazer (D)
32 August 7, 2018 Tony Mendoza (D) Vanessa Delgado (D)
1 June 4, 2019 Ted Gaines (R) Brian Dahle (R)
33 June 4, 2019 Ricardo Lara (D) Lena Gonzalez (D)
28 May 12, 2020 Jeff Stone (R) Melissa Melendez (R)
30 March 2, 2021 Holly Mitchell (D) Sydney Kamlager (D)
36 February 25, 2025 Janet Nguyen (R) Tony Strickland (R)

List of recall elections

A replacement state senator is only listed in cases in which the recall was successful.

DistrictDateRecall targetReplacement
20 April 12, 1994 David Roberti (D)Not applicable, recall failed
12 June 3, 2008 Jeff Denham (R)Not applicable, recall failed
29 June 5, 2018 Josh Newman (D) Ling Ling Chang (R)

Results

2006 35th State Senate district special election

California SD-35.svg
California's 35th State Senate district special election, 2006
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Tom Harman 89,408 67.61
Democratic Larry Caballero42,83832.39
Valid ballots132,24690.66
Invalid or blank votes13,6299.34
Total votes145,875 100.00
Turnout  28.18
Republican hold

2008 12th State Senate district recall election

California SD-12.svg
California's 12th State Senate district recall election, 2008 [1]
Vote on recallVotesPercentage
X mark.svg No61,30975.36%
Yes20,04324.64%
Valid votes81,35295.11%
Invalid or blank votes4,1834.89%
Totals85,535100.00%
Voter turnout28.44%
PartyCandidateVotesPercentage
Democratic Simon Salinas 30,946100.00%
Valid votes30,94636.18%
Invalid or blank votes54,58963.82%
Totals85,535100.00%
Voter turnout28.44%
Republican hold

2009 26th State Senate district special election

California SD-26.svg
California's 26th State Senate district special election, 2009 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Curren Price 37,677 70.72
Republican Nachum Shifren11,09720.83
Peace and Freedom Cindy Henderson4,5018.45
Valid ballots53,27583.24
Invalid or blank votes10,72616.76
Total votes64,001 100.00
Turnout  18.59
Democratic hold

2010 37th State Senate district special election

California SD-37.svg
California's 37th State Senate district special election, 2010 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bill Emmerson 81,655 59.66
Democratic Justin Blake41,24330.13
American Independent Matt Monica13,96510.20
Total votes136,863 100.00
Turnout  29.18
Republican hold

2010 15th State Senate district special election

California SD-15.svg
California's 15th State Senate district special election, 2010 [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Sam Blakeslee 86,873 48.47
Democratic John Laird 79,83544.54
Independent Jim Fitzgerald8,9374.99
Libertarian Mark Hinkle3,5922.00
Total votes179,237 100.00
Turnout  39.43
Republican hold

2011 17th district special election

California SD-17.svg
California's 17th State Senate district special election, 2011
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of George Runner
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Sharon Runner 44,238 65.3
Democratic Darren W. Parker23,53434.7
Total votes67,772 100.0

2011 28th district special election

California SD-28.svg
California's 28th State Senate district special election, 2011
Vacancy resulting from the death of Jenny Oropeza
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ted Lieu 31,723 56.7
Republican Bob Valentine14,14125.3
Republican Martha Flores Gibson3,8856.9
No party preference Mark Lipman1,9123.4
Democratic Kevin Thomas McGurk1,4162.5
Republican James P. Thompson1,3012.3
Republican Jeffrey E. Fortini1,2462.2
No party preference Michael Chamness3090.6
Total votes55,933 100.0

2013 4th district special election

California SD-04.svg
California's 4th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Doug LaMalfa
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim Nielsen 188,20749.8
Democratic Michael "Mickey" Harrington104,57227.7
Republican Dan Logue 43,30311.5
No party preference Jann Reed24,9666.6
No party preference Dan Levine9,8822.6
No party preference Benjamin "Ben" Emery7,1461.9
Total votes378,076 100.0
General election
Republican Jim Nielsen 97,849 66.6
Democratic Michael "Mickey" Harrington49,00433.4
Total votes146,853 100.0
Republican hold

2013 40th district special election

California SD-40.svg
California's 40th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Juan Vargas
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ben Hueso 29,367 53.1
Republican Hector Raul Gastelum11,95121.6
Republican Xanthi Gionis8,24314.9
Democratic Anna Nevenic5,74010.4
Democratic Craig Fiegener (write-in)390.1
Democratic Rafael Estrada (write-in)200.0
Total votes55,360 100.0
Democratic hold

2013 32nd district special election

California SD-32.svg
California's 32nd State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Gloria Negrete McLeod
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Norma Torres 15,02144.0
Republican Paul S. Leon8,96126.4
Democratic Larry Walker4,62013.6
Democratic Joanne T. Gilbert2,3276.9
Republican Kenny Coble2,1786.4
Democratic Paul Vincent Avila8452.5
Total votes33,952 100.0
General election
Democratic Norma Torres 21,251 59.6
Republican Paul S. Leon14,43240.4
Total votes35,683 100.0
Democratic hold

2013 16th district special election

California SD-16.svg
California's 16th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Michael Rubio
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Andy Vidak 31,61049.8
Democratic Leticia Perez27,85443.9
Democratic Francisco "Frank" Ramirez1,8903.0
Democratic Paulina Miranda1,6232.6
Peace and Freedom Mohammed "O" Arif4710.7
Total votes63,448 100.0
General election
Republican Andy Vidak 42,224 51.9
Democratic Leticia Perez39,14048.1
Total votes81,364 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

2013 26th district special election

California SD-26.svg
California's 26th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Curren Price
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Holly Mitchell 19,481 81.0
Democratic Mervin Evans4,57919.0
Total votes24,060 100.0
Democratic hold

2014 23rd district special election

California SD-23 (2011).svg
California's 23rd State Senate district special election, 2014
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Bill Emmerson
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mike Morrell 43,447 62.6
Democratic Ronald J. O'Donnell10,53115.2
Democratic Ameenah Fuller6,7059.7
Libertarian Jeff Hewitt4,4796.5
Republican Crystal Ruiz4,1876.0
Total votes69,349 100.0
Republican hold

2014 35th district special election

California SD-35 (2011).svg
2014 California's 35th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Rod Wright
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Isadore Hall, III 17,951 55.9
Republican James Spencer8,01425.0
Democratic Louis L. Dominguez4,06712.7
Democratic Hector Serrano2,0696.4
Total votes32,101 100.0
Democratic hold

2015 7th district special election

California SD-07 (2011).svg
2015 California's 7th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Mark DeSaulnier
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Steve Glazer 38,41133.7
Democratic Susan Bonilla 28,38924.9
Democratic Joan Buchanan 25,53422.4
Republican Michaela M. Hertle (withdrawn)18,28116.1
Democratic Terry Kremin3,2422.8
Total votes113,857 100.0
General election
Democratic Steve Glazer 68,996 54.5
Democratic Susan Bonilla 57,49145.5
Total votes126,487 100.0
Democratic hold

2015 21st district special election

California SD-21 (2011).svg
2015 California's 21st State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Steve Knight
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Sharon Runner 26,360 94.1
Democratic Steve Hill (write-in)9963.6
Democratic Joshua Conaway (write-in)2520.9
Republican Jerry J. Laws (write-in)1200.4
No party preference Joshua C. Chandler (write-in)1080.4
Democratic Richard E. Macias (write-in)910.3
No party preference Jason Zink (write-in)900.3
Total votes28,017 100.0
Republican hold

2015 37th district special election

California SD-37 (2011).svg
2015 California's 37th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Mimi Walters [5]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican John Moorlach 38,125 50.3
Republican Don Wagner 33,41144.0
Republican Naz Namazi2,6213.5
Democratic Louise Stewardson (write-in)1,6962.2
Total votes75,853 100.0
Republican hold

2018 29th district special recall election

California SD-29 (2011).svg
2018 California's 29th State Senate district special recall election
ChoiceVotes%
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes91,89258.13
No66,19741.87
Total votes158,089100.00
2018 California's 29th State Senate district special recall election
Successor of Josh Newman if a majority vote in favor of recall
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Ling Ling Chang 50,215 33.80
Democratic Joseph Cho 31,72621.36
Republican Bruce Whitaker28,70419.32
Democratic Josh Ferguson17,74511.95
Democratic Kevin Carr12,7138.56
Republican George C. Shen7,4425.01
Total votes148,545 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

2018 32nd district special election

California SD-32 (2011).svg

The first round of the special election was consolidated with the regularly scheduled primary election. Although most of the candidates in the two contests were the same, the results were very different. Rita Topalian finished first in both races, but different candidates finished in second place. Vanessa Delgado finished in 2nd place in the special election, but 3rd place in the regularly scheduled primary election. She received a similar number of votes in both races, but candidate Bob Archuleta received about 54% more votes in the regularly scheduled election than he did in the special election. The different results have been attributed to the different order in which the candidates were listed on the ballot. [6]

2018 California's 32nd State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Tony Mendoza
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Rita Topalian29,13525.0
Democratic Vanessa Delgado 18,89816.2
Democratic Tony Mendoza 16,77914.4
Democratic Bob Archuleta 13,59311.7
Republican Ion Sarega10,7209.2
Democratic Vicky Santana7,9606.8
Democratic Ali S. Taj6,9616.0
Democratic Vivian Romero5,3794.6
Democratic Rudy Bermudez5,1174.4
Democratic John Paul Drayer1,2941.1
Democratic Darren Joseph Gendron5990.5
Total votes116,435 100.0
General election
Democratic Vanessa Delgado 26,635 52.4
Republican Rita Topalian24,24047.6
Total votes50,875 100.0
Democratic hold

2019 1st district special election

California SD-01 (2011).svg
2019 California's 1st State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Ted Gaines [7]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Brian Dahle 57,72529.6
Republican Kevin Kiley 54,29027.9
Democratic Silke Pflueger49,16425.2
Republican Rex Hime18,0509.3
Democratic Steve Baird10,8555.6
Republican Theodore Dziuba4,6722.4
Total votes194,756 100.0
General election
Republican Brian Dahle 84,503 53.9
Republican Kevin Kiley 72,16946.1
Total votes156,672 100.0
Republican hold

2019 33rd district special election

California SD-33 (2011).svg
2019 California's 33rd State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Ricardo Lara [8]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Lena Gonzalez 10,98431.6
Republican Jack M. Guerrero4,86014.0
Democratic Ali Saleh3,3349.6
Democratic Ana Maria Quintana3,0388.8
Democratic José Luis Solache 2,5947.5
Democratic Denise Diaz2,4046.9
Republican Martha Flores Gibson2,2256.4
Democratic Leticia Vasquez Wilson1,8395.3
Democratic Al Austin, II1,3563.9
Democratic Thomas Jefferson Cares8242.4
Democratic Chris Garcia7202.1
Green Cesar Flores5291.5
Total votes34,711 100.0
General election
Democratic Lena Gonzalez 32,394 69.8
Republican Jack M. Guerrero14,04930.2
Total votes46,443 100.0
Democratic hold

2020 28th district special election

California SD-28 (2011).svg
2020 California's 28th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Jeff Stone
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Melissa Melendez 81,91840.5
Democratic Elizabeth Romero47,51623.5
Democratic Joy Silver42,22220.9
Republican John Schwab24,53612.1
Democratic Anna Nevenic5,9122.9
Total votes202,104 100.0
General election
Republican Melissa Melendez 105,525 55.4
Democratic Elizabeth Romero84,90245.6
Total votes190,427 100.0
Republican hold

2021 30th district special election

District 30
Flag of California.svg
←  2018 March 2, 2021 2022  →
  SydneyKamlager (cropped).jpg Daniel-lee-15-5x7100-square.jpg
Nominee Sydney Kamlager Daniel Lee
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote48,4839,458
Percentage68.7%13.4%
Senator before election

Holly Mitchell
Democratic

Elected Senator

Sydney Kamlager
Democratic

2021 California's 30th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Holly Mitchell [9] [10]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Sydney Kamlager 48,483 68.7
Democratic Daniel Lee9,45813.4
Republican Joe Lisuzzo4,4126.3
Democratic Cheryl C. Turner3,7995.4
Republican Tiffani Jones1,6042.3
Peace and Freedom Ernesto Alexander Huerta1,5702.2
No party preference Renita Duncan1,2441.8
Total votes70,577 100.0
Democratic hold

2025 36th district special election

District 36
Flag of California.svg
←  2022 February 25, 2025 2026  →
Incumbent Senator

Janet Nguyen
Republican



Incumbent Republican Janet Nguyen resigned to join the Orange County Board of Supervisors. A special election was held on February 25, 2025 to fill the vacancy. [11] [12]

2025 California's 36th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Janet Nguyen [13]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Tony Strickland 81,13351.3%
Democratic Jimmy D. Pham43,73027.7%
Democratic Julie Diep22,64714.3%
Republican John Briscoe10,5886.7%
Total votes158,098 100.0%

Notes

  1. ↑ Switched his party affiliation to the Democratic Party eighteen years after the special election, serving his last eleven years in the State Senate as a Democrat

References

  1. ↑ "Statement of Vote: June 3, 2008, Statewide Direct Primary Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. July 16, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Special Election Results: Senate District 26 Special Election, May 19, 2009 - FINAL OFFICIAL RESULTS" (PDF). California Secretary of State. June 1, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Official Canvass: State Senator 37th Senate District Special General Election, June 8, 2010" (PDF). California Secretary of State. July 12, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Official Canvass State Senator 15th Senate District Special General Election, August 17, 2010" (PDF). California Secretary of State. August 25, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Orange County Statement of Votes for the March 17, 2015 special election" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Myers, John (June 9, 2018). "Los Angeles voters picked different candidates for the same job". Los Angeles Times .
  7. ↑ "CANDIDATES FOR MARCH 26, 2019, SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION" (PDF). California Secretary of State. February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ "CANDIDATES FOR MARCH 26, 2019, SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION" (PDF). California Secretary of State. February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ "CANDIDATES FOR MARCH 2, 2021, SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION" (PDF). California Secretary of State.
  10. ↑ "State Senate District 30 - Districtwide Results". California Secretary of State. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ Sabalow, Ryan (November 27, 2024). "California's Republican caucus is growing and more diverse, but it's a long way from power". CalMatters. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Governor Newsom proclaims special election for Senate District 36, Assembly District 32". December 11, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Final Official Election Results - Senate District 36". California Secretary of State.
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