List of special elections to the California State Senate

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.

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.

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 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, 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 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, 1980 Jerry 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.

District Date Recall target Replacement
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's 35th State Senate district special election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Harman 89,408 67.61
Democratic Larry Caballero 42,838 32.39
Valid ballots 132,246 90.66
Invalid or blank votes 13,629 9.34
Total votes 145,875 100.00
Turnout   28.18
Republican hold

2008 12th State Senate district recall election

Main article: California state elections, June 2008 § 12th State Senate district recall election
California's 12th State Senate district recall election, 2008[1]
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

2009 26th State Senate district special election

Main article: California state special elections, 2009 § 26th State Senate district special election
California's 26th State Senate district special election, 2009[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Curren Price 37,677 70.72
Republican Nachum Shifren 11,097 20.83
Peace and Freedom Cindy Henderson 4,501 8.45
Valid ballots 53,275 83.24
Invalid or blank votes 10,726 16.76
Total votes 64,001 100.00
Turnout   18.59
Democratic hold

2010 37th State Senate district special election

Main article: California state elections, June 2010 § 37th State Senate district special election
California's 37th State Senate district special election, 2010[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Emmerson 81,655 59.66
Democratic Justin Blake 41,243 30.13
American Independent Matt Monica 13,965 10.20
Total votes 136,863 100.00
Turnout   29.18
Republican hold

2010 15th State Senate district special election

California's 15th State Senate district special election, 2010[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
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
Total votes 179,237 100.00
Turnout   39.43
Republican hold

2011 17th district special election

California's 17th State Senate district special election, 2011
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of George Runner
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sharon Runner 44,238 65.3
Democratic Darren W. Parker 23,534 34.7
Total votes 67,772 100.0

2011 28th district special election

California's 28th State Senate district special election, 2011
Vacancy resulting from the death of Jenny Oropeza
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ted Lieu 31,723 56.7
Republican Bob Valentine 14,141 25.3
Republican Martha Flores Gibson 3,885 6.9
No party preference Mark Lipman 1,912 3.4
Democratic Kevin Thomas McGurk 1,416 2.5
Republican James P. Thompson 1,301 2.3
Republican Jeffrey E. Fortini 1,246 2.2
No party preference Michael Chamness 309 0.6
Total votes 55,933 100.0

2013 4th district special election

California's 4th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Doug LaMalfa
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jim Nielsen 188,207 49.8
Democratic Michael "Mickey" Harrington 104,572 27.7
Republican Dan Logue 43,303 11.5
No party preference Jann Reed 24,966 6.6
No party preference Dan Levine 9,882 2.6
No party preference Benjamin "Ben" Emery 7,146 1.9
Total votes 378,076 100.0
General election
Republican Jim Nielsen 97,849 66.6
Democratic Michael "Mickey" Harrington 49,004 33.4
Total votes 146,853 100.0
Republican hold

2013 40th district special election

California's 40th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Juan Vargas
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ben Hueso 29,367 53.1
Republican Hector Raul Gastelum 11,951 21.6
Republican Xanthi Gionis 8,243 14.9
Democratic Anna Nevenic 5,740 10.4
Democratic Craig Fiegener (write-in) 39 0.1
Democratic Rafael Estrada (write-in) 20 0.0
Total votes 55,360 100.0
Democratic hold

2013 32nd district special election

California's 32nd State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Gloria Negrete McLeod
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Norma Torres 15,021 44.0
Republican Paul S. Leon 8,961 26.4
Democratic Larry Walker 4,620 13.6
Democratic Joanne T. Gilbert 2,327 6.9
Republican Kenny Coble 2,178 6.4
Democratic Paul Vincent Avila 845 2.5
Total votes 33,952 100.0
General election
Democratic Norma Torres 21,251 59.6
Republican Paul S. Leon 14,432 40.4
Total votes 35,683 100.0
Democratic hold

2013 16th district special election

California's 16th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Michael Rubio
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Andy Vidak 31,610 49.8
Democratic Leticia Perez 27,854 43.9
Democratic Francisco "Frank" Ramirez 1,890 3.0
Democratic Paulina Miranda 1,623 2.6
Peace and Freedom Mohammed "O" Arif 471 0.7
Total votes 63,448 100.0
General election
Republican Andy Vidak 42,224 51.9
Democratic Leticia Perez 39,140 48.1
Total votes 81,364 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

2013 26th district special election

California's 26th State Senate district special election, 2013
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Curren Price
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Holly Mitchell 19,481 81.0
Democratic Mervin Evans 4,579 19.0
Total votes 24,060 100.0
Democratic hold

2014 23rd district special election

California's 23rd State Senate district special election, 2014
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Bill Emmerson
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Morrell 43,447 62.6
Democratic Ronald J. O'Donnell 10,531 15.2
Democratic Ameenah Fuller 6,705 9.7
Libertarian Jeff Hewitt 4,479 6.5
Republican Crystal Ruiz 4,187 6.0
Total votes 69,349 100.0
Republican hold

2014 35th district special election

2014 California's 35th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Rod Wright
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Isadore Hall, III 17,951 55.9
Republican James Spencer 8,014 25.0
Democratic Louis L. Dominguez 4,067 12.7
Democratic Hector Serrano 2,069 6.4
Total votes 32,101 100.0
Democratic hold

2015 7th district special election

2015 California's 7th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Mark DeSaulnier
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Steve Glazer 38,411 33.7
Democratic Susan Bonilla 28,389 24.9
Democratic Joan Buchanan 25,534 22.4
Republican Michaela M. Hertle (withdrawn) 18,281 16.1
Democratic Terry Kremin 3,242 2.8
Total votes 113,857 100.0
General election
Democratic Steve Glazer 68,996 54.5
Democratic Susan Bonilla 57,491 45.5
Total votes 126,487 100.0
Democratic hold

2015 21st district special election

2015 California's 21st State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Steve Knight
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sharon Runner 26,360 94.1
Democratic Steve Hill (write-in) 996 3.6
Democratic Joshua Conaway (write-in) 252 0.9
Republican Jerry J. Laws (write-in) 120 0.4
No party preference Joshua C. Chandler (write-in) 108 0.4
Democratic Richard E. Macias (write-in) 91 0.3
No party preference Jason Zink (write-in) 90 0.3
Total votes 28,017 100.0
Republican hold

2015 37th district special election

2015 California's 37th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Mimi Walters[5]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Moorlach 38,125 50.3
Republican Don Wagner 33,411 44.0
Republican Naz Namazi 2,621 3.5
Democratic Louise Stewardson (write-in) 1,696 2.2
Total votes 75,853 100.0
Republican hold

2018 29th district special recall election

2018 California's 29th State Senate district special recall election
Choice Votes %
Yes 91,892 58.13
No 66,197 41.87
Total votes 158,089 100.00
2018 California's 29th State Senate district special recall election
Successor of Josh Newman if a majority vote in favor of recall
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ling Ling Chang 50,215 33.80
Democratic Joseph Cho 31,726 21.36
Republican Bruce Whitaker 28,704 19.32
Democratic Josh Ferguson 17,745 11.95
Democratic Kevin Carr 12,713 8.56
Republican George C. Shen 7,442 5.01
Total votes 148,545 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

2018 32nd district special election

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
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rita Topalian 29,135 25.0
Democratic Vanessa Delgado 18,898 16.2
Democratic Tony Mendoza 16,779 14.4
Democratic Bob Archuleta 13,593 11.7
Republican Ion Sarega 10,720 9.2
Democratic Vicky Santana 7,960 6.8
Democratic Ali S. Taj 6,961 6.0
Democratic Vivian Romero 5,379 4.6
Democratic Rudy Bermudez 5,117 4.4
Democratic John Paul Drayer 1,294 1.1
Democratic Darren Joseph Gendron 599 0.5
Total votes 116,435 100.0
General election
Democratic Vanessa Delgado 26,635 52.4
Republican Rita Topalian 24,240 47.6
Total votes 50,875 100.0
Democratic hold

2019 1st district special election

2019 California's 1st State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Ted Gaines[7]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Brian Dahle 57,725 29.6
Republican Kevin Kiley 54,290 27.9
Democratic Silke Pflueger 49,164 25.2
Republican Rex Hime 18,050 9.3
Democratic Steve Baird 10,855 5.6
Republican Theodore Dziuba 4,672 2.4
Total votes 194,756 100.0
General election
Republican Brian Dahle 84,503 53.9
Republican Kevin Kiley 72,169 46.1
Total votes 156,672 100.0
Republican hold

2019 33rd district special election

2019 California's 33rd State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Ricardo Lara[8]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lena Gonzalez 10,984 31.6
Republican Jack M. Guerrero 4,860 14.0
Democratic Ali Saleh 3,334 9.6
Democratic Ana Maria Quintana 3,038 8.8
Democratic José Luis Solache 2,594 7.5
Democratic Denise Diaz 2,404 6.9
Republican Martha Flores Gibson 2,225 6.4
Democratic Leticia Vasquez Wilson 1,839 5.3
Democratic Al Austin, II 1,356 3.9
Democratic Thomas Jefferson Cares 824 2.4
Democratic Chris Garcia 720 2.1
Green Cesar Flores 529 1.5
Total votes 34,711 100.0
General election
Democratic Lena Gonzalez 32,394 69.8
Republican Jack M. Guerrero 14,049 30.2
Total votes 46,443 100.0
Democratic hold

2020 28th district special election

2020 California's 28th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Jeff Stone
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Melissa Melendez 81,918 40.5
Democratic Elizabeth Romero 47,516 23.5
Democratic Joy Silver 42,222 20.9
Republican John Schwab 24,536 12.1
Democratic Anna Nevenic 5,912 2.9
Total votes 202,104 100.0
General election
Republican Melissa Melendez 105,525 55.4
Democratic Elizabeth Romero 84,902 45.6
Total votes 190,427 100.0
Republican hold

2021 30th district special election

District 30
March 2, 2021
 
Nominee Sydney Kamlager Daniel Lee
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 48,483 9,458
Percentage 68.7% 13.4%
Senator before election

Holly Mitchell
Democratic

Elected Senator

Sydney Kamlager
Democratic

See also: California's 30th State Senate district
2021 California's 30th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Holly Mitchell[9][10]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sydney Kamlager 48,483 68.7
Democratic Daniel Lee 9,458 13.4
Republican Joe Lisuzzo 4,412 6.3
Democratic Cheryl C. Turner 3,799 5.4
Republican Tiffani Jones 1,604 2.3
Peace and Freedom Ernesto Alexander Huerta 1,570 2.2
No party preference Renita Duncan 1,244 1.8
Total votes 70,577 100.0
Democratic hold

2025 36th district special election

District 36
February 25, 2025
Incumbent Senator

Janet Nguyen
Republican



See also: California's 36th State Senate district

Incumbent Republican Janet Nguyen resigned after winning a seat for 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
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tony Strickland 81,133 51.3%
Democratic Jimmy D. Pham 43,730 27.7%
Democratic Julie Diep 22,647 14.3%
Republican John Briscoe 10,588 6.7%
Total votes 158,098 100.0%

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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