Elections were held in California on November 6, 2018, with primary elections being held on June 5, 2018. Voters elected one member to the United States Senate, 53 members to the United States House of Representatives, all eight state constitutional offices, all four members to the Board of Equalization, 20 members to the California State Senate, and all 80 members to the California State Assembly, among other elected offices.
Pursuant to Proposition 14 passed in 2010, California uses a nonpartisan blanket primary. All the candidates for the same elected office, regardless of respective political party, run against each other at once during the primary. The candidates receiving the most and second-most votes in the primary election then become the contestants in the general election.
United States Congress
Senate
Incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein won re-election.
House of Representatives
Statewide constitutional offices Governor
Incumbent Democrat Jerry Brown was term-limited and was succeeded by Democratic lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom.
Lieutenant governor
Incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom was term-limited and was succeeded by the Democratic former United States Ambassador to Hungary Eleni Kounalakis.
Attorney general
Incumbent Democrat Xavier Becerra won his first election after his appointment and confirmation to the office on January 24, 2017.
Secretary of state
Incumbent Democrat Alex Padilla won re-election.
Treasurer
Incumbent Democrat John Chiang left office to run for governor and was succeeded by Democratic State Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma.
Controller
Incumbent Democrat Betty Yee won re-election.
Insurance Commissioner
Incumbent Democrat Dave Jones was term-limited and was succeeded by Democratic state senator Ricardo Lara.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Tom Torlakson was term-limited and was succeeded by Democratic state assemblymember Tony Thurmond.
Board of Equalization
District 1 Incumbent Republican George Runner was term-limited and was succeeded by Republican state senator Ted Gaines.
District 2 Incumbent Democrat Fiona Ma left office to run for state treasurer and was succeeded by Democratic San Francisco supervisor Malia Cohen.
District 3 Incumbent Democrat Jerome Horton was term-limited and was succeeded by Democratic Santa Monica city councilmember Tony Vazquez.
District 4 Incumbent Republican Diane Harkey left office to run for the United States House of Representatives and was succeeded by Democratic former San Diego city councilmember and perennial candidate Mike Schaefer.
State legislature State Senate
State Assembly
State Supreme Court Two justices on the Supreme Court of California were facing retention in 2018. Justice Corrigan retention
Carol Corrigan was first appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in December 2005 to relace Justice Janice Rogers Brown.
Justice Kruger retention
Leondra Kruger was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in November 2014 to replace Justice Joyce Kennard.
Statewide ballot propositions Primary election Since the passage of a law in November 2011, state primary elections may only feature propositions placed on the ballot by the state legislature.
+2018 California propositions (June)NameDescriptionVotesTypeYes%No%Proposition 68Issues $4 billion in bonds for parks, environmental protection, and water infrastructure. 3,808,000 57.352,831,89942.65 Bond propositionProposition 69Mandates that revenues generated by the Road Repair and Accountability Act (2017) can only be used for transportation purposes. 5,386,972 81.011,262,45518.99 Legislatively referred constitutional amendmentProposition 70Requires a one-time two-thirds majority vote to use revenue from the cap-and-trade program.2,251,74035.30 4,126,406 64.70Proposition 71Moves the effective date of passed ballot measures from the day after the election to the fifth day after the certification of the results. 4,995,361 77.631,439,68622.37Proposition 72Excludes rainwater capture systems completed on or after January 1, 2019, from property tax assessments. 5,537,110 84.581,009,85315.42Source: California Secretary of State
General election Twelve state propositions were originally approved for the November ballot, but Proposition 9 was removed from the ballot by order of the California Supreme Court. +2018 California propositions (November)NameDescriptionVotesTypeYes%No%Proposition 1Issues $4 billion in bonds for affordable housing programs and veterans' home loans. 6,751,018 56.225,258,15743.78 Bond propositionProposition 2Authorizes state to use revenue from millionaire's tax for $2 billion in bonds for homelessness prevention housing. 7,662,528 63.434,417,32736.57 Legislatively referred state statuteProposition 3Issues $8.877 billion in bonds for water-related infrastructure and environmental projects.5,879,83649.35 6,034,991 50.65 Citizen-initiated state statuteProposition 4Authorizes $1.5 billion in bonds to funding construction at various hospitals providing children's health care. 7,551,298 62.694,494,14337.31Proposition 5Revises process for homebuyers who are age 55 or older or severely disabled to transfer their tax assessments.4,813,25140.22 7,152,993 59.78 Citizen-initiated constitutional amendmentProposition 6Repeals 2017's gas tax and vehicle fee increases and requires public vote on future increases.5,283,22243.18 6,952,081 56.82Proposition 7Authorizes legislature to provide for permanent daylight saving time, subject to approval by the U.S. Congress. 7,167,315 59.754,828,56440.25 Legislatively referred state statuteProposition 8Requires dialysis clinics to issue refunds to their patients if their revenue exceeds 115% of their costs of direct patient care and health care quality improvements.4,845,26440.07 7,247,917 59.93 Citizen-initiated state statuteProposition 10Allows local governments to regulate rent on any type of housing by repealing the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act.4,949,54340.57 7,251,443 59.43Proposition 11Requires private-sector emergency ambulance employees to remain on call during breaks, be trained in certain emergency situations, and receive paid mental health services from their employers. 7,181,116 59.634,861,83140.37Proposition 12Requires meats and eggs to be produced only from farm animals that are confined in areas greater than a specific amount of space. 7,516,095 62.654,481,26737.35Source: California Secretary of State Removed from the ballot Proposition 9: Division of California into Three States Also known as the Cal 3 measure, this would have divided California into three U.S. states, subject to approval by the U.S. Congress. It was removed from the ballot by the California Supreme Court on July 18, 2018, for further legal review. On September 12, the court affirmed their removal of the measure along with banning any such measure to be on the ballot in the future.
See also Mister America, a fictional film about the 2018 election for district attorney of San Bernardino County
References
External links Candidates at Vote Smart Candidates at Ballotpedia Campaign finance at OpenSecrets
Statewide election results from the California Secretary of State's Elections Division 2018 Primary Election 2018 General Election
Official Board of Equalization District 1 campaign websites Ted Gaines (R) for Board of Equalization Tom Hallinan (D) for Board of Equalization
Official Board of Equalization District 2 campaign websites Mark Burns (R) for Board of Equalization Malia Cohen (D) for Board of Equalization
Official Board of Equalization District 3 campaign websites G. Rick Marshall (R) for Board of Equalization Tony Vazquez (D) for Board of Equalization