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) 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

2008 12th State Senate district recall election

California's 12th State Senate district recall election, 2008Vote on recallVotesPercentage 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%PartyCandidateVotesPercentage 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

2010 37th State Senate district special election

2010 15th State Senate district special election

2011 17th district special election

2011 28th district special election

2013 4th district special election

2013 40th district special election

2013 32nd district special election

2013 16th district special election

2013 26th district special election

2014 23rd district special election

2014 35th district special election

2015 7th district special election

2015 21st district special election

2015 37th district special election

2018 29th district special recall election

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.

2019 1st district special election

2019 33rd district special election

2020 28th district special election

2021 30th district special election

2025 36th district special election

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.

Notes

References