List of special elections to the California State Assembly
Special elections to the California State Assembly are called by the Governor of California when a vacancy arises within the State Assembly. Most special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first is an open primary and the candidate with the most votes must have a majority of the votes plus one to win the seat. If no candidate wins a majority a second round is held with the two top candidates regardless of party.
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 only include the open primary round if no second round was held.
District |
Date |
Predecessor |
Winner |
30 |
January 23, 1962 |
Ralph Brown (D) |
John Veneman (R) |
8 |
November 5, 1962 |
Jimmy Hicks (D) |
Walter Powers (D) |
49 |
May 9, 1967 |
Charles Chapel (R) |
Robert Beverly (D) |
30 |
May 20, 1969 |
John Veneman (R) |
Clare Berryhill (R) |
34 |
June 17, 1969 |
Alan Pattee (R) |
Bob Wood (R) |
48 |
November 16, 1971 |
David Roberti (D) |
Bill Brophy (R) |
76 |
November 16, 1971 |
Pete Wilson (R) |
Bob Wilson (D) |
49 |
June 6, 1972 |
Peter Schabarum (R) |
William Lancaster (R) |
38 |
May 29, 1973 |
Carley Porter (D) |
Bob McLennan (R) |
67 |
June 26, 1973 |
Larry Townsend (D) |
Paul Bannai (R) |
80 |
June 26, 1973 |
John Stull (R) |
William Craven (R) |
12 |
September 4, 1973 |
Robert Monagan (R) |
Doug Carter (R) |
14 |
September 4, 1973 |
Robert Crown (D) |
Bill Lockyer (D) |
15 |
March 4, 1975 |
Carlos Bee (D) |
Floyd Mori (D) |
4 |
December 2, 1975 |
Edwin Z'berg (D) |
Vic Fazio (D) |
47 |
July 15, 1975 |
Bill Greene (D) |
Teresa Hughes (D) |
46 |
June 2, 1977 |
Charles Warren (D) |
Mike Roos (D) |
44 |
June 28, 1977 |
Alan Sieroty (D) |
Mel Levine (D) |
55 |
June 3, 1986 |
Richard Alatorre (D) |
Richard Polanco (D) |
56 |
May 12, 1987 |
Gloria Molina (D) |
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) |
16 |
April 12, 1988 |
Art Agnos (D) |
John Burton (D) |
50 |
February 7, 1989 |
Curtis Tucker, Sr. (D) |
Curtis Tucker, Jr. (D) |
76 |
October 3, 1989 |
Bill Bradley (R) |
Tricia Hunter (R) |
27 |
January 30, 1990 |
Gary Condit (D) |
Sal Cannella (D) |
78 |
June 5, 1990 |
Lucy Killea (D) |
Jeff Marston (R) |
26 |
May 14, 1991 |
Patrick Johnston (D) |
Dean Andal (R) |
46 |
July 30, 1991 |
Mike Roos (D) |
Barbara Friedman (D) |
5 |
September 17, 1991 |
Tim Leslie (R) |
B. T. Collins (R) |
67 |
September 17, 1991 |
John Lewis (R) |
Mickey Conroy (R) |
31 |
February 21, 1993 |
Bruce Bronzan (D) |
Cruz Bustamante (D) |
5 |
July 27, 1993 |
B. T. Collins (R) |
Barbara Alby (R) |
27 |
November 2, 1993 |
Sam Farr (D) |
Bruce McPherson (R) |
79 |
April 12, 1994 |
Steve Peace (D) |
Denise Moreno Ducheny (D) |
43 |
May 3, 1994 |
Pat Nolan (R) |
Jim Rogan (R) |
60 |
May 16, 1995 |
Paul Horcher (R) |
Gary Miller (R) |
59 |
June 6, 1995 |
Dick Mountjoy (R) |
Bob Margett (R) |
72 |
September 12, 1995 |
Ross Johnson (R) |
Dick Ackerman (R) |
67 |
November 28, 1995 |
Doris Allen (R) |
Scott Baugh (R) |
13 |
March 26, 1996 |
Willie Brown (D) |
Carole Migden (D) |
46 |
January 13, 1998 |
Louis Caldera (D) |
Gil Cedillo (D) |
16 |
March 30, 1999 |
Don Perata (D) |
Audie Bock (G) |
49 |
April 3, 2001 |
Gloria Romero (D) |
Judy Chu (D) |
65 |
April 3, 2001 |
Jan Leja (R) |
Russ Bogh (R) |
53 |
September 13, 2005 |
Mike Gordon (D) |
Ted Lieu (D) |
39 |
May 15, 2007 |
Richard Alarcón (D) |
Felipe Fuentes (D) |
55 |
February 5, 2008 |
Laura Richardson (D) |
Warren Furutani (D) |
51 |
September 1, 2009 |
Curren Price (D) |
Steven Bradford (D) |
72 |
January 12, 2010 |
Michael Duvall (R) |
Chris Norby (R) |
43 |
June 8, 2010 |
Paul Krekorian (D) |
Mike Gatto (D) |
4 |
May 3, 2011 |
Ted Gaines (R) |
Beth Gaines (R) |
80 |
May 21, 2013 |
Ben Hueso (D) |
Lorena Gonzalez (D) |
52 |
July 23, 2013 |
Norma Torres (D) |
Freddie Rodriguez (D) |
45 |
November 19, 2013 |
Bob Blumenfield (D) |
Matt Dababneh (D) |
54 |
December 3, 2013 |
Holly Mitchell (D) |
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D) |
31 |
April 5, 2016 |
Henry Perea (D) |
Joaquin Arambula (D) |
List of recall elections
When applicable, the candidate who succeeded the recalled state assemblymember is listed. If the recall election was not successful the winner is listed as "none".
Results
80th district special election, 2013
52nd district special election, 2013
California's 52nd State Assembly district special election, 2013 Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Norma Torres |
Primary election |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
|
No party preference |
Paul S. Leon |
4,219 |
24.9 |
|
Democratic |
Freddie Rodriguez |
3,758 |
22.2 |
|
Republican |
Dorothy F. Pineda |
2,453 |
14.5 |
|
Democratic |
Jason A. Rothman |
1,545 |
9.1 |
|
Democratic |
Tom Haughey |
1,482 |
8.7 |
|
Democratic |
Danielle Soto |
1,259 |
7.4 |
|
Democratic |
Doris Louise Wallace |
887 |
5.2 |
|
Democratic |
Paul Vincent Avila |
752 |
4.4 |
|
Democratic |
Manuel Saucedo |
597 |
3.5 |
Total votes |
16,952 |
100.0 |
General election |
|
Democratic |
Freddie Rodriguez |
7,630 |
51.3 |
|
No party preference |
Paul S. Leon |
7,230 |
48.7 |
Total votes |
14,860 |
100.0 |
|
Democratic hold |
45th district special election, 2013
California's 45th State Assembly district special election, 2013 Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Bob Blumenfield |
Primary election |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
|
Democratic |
Matt Dababneh |
6,088 |
24.7 |
|
Republican |
Susan Shelley |
5,205 |
21.1 |
|
Democratic |
Jeff Ebenstein |
3,407 |
13.8 |
|
Republican |
Chris Kolski |
3,141 |
12.7 |
|
Democratic |
Andra Hoffman |
2,477 |
10.0 |
|
Democratic |
Damian Carroll |
1,680 |
6.8 |
|
Democratic |
Elizabeth Badger |
679 |
2.8 |
|
Democratic |
Dennis De Young |
673 |
2.7 |
|
Republican |
Armineh Chelebian |
624 |
2.5 |
|
No party preference |
Eric Lewis |
432 |
1.8 |
|
Democratic |
Dan McCrory |
262 |
1.1 |
Total votes |
24,668 |
100.0 |
General election |
|
Democratic |
Matt Dababneh |
14,984 |
50.6 |
|
Republican |
Susan Shelley |
14,655 |
49.4 |
Total votes |
29,639 |
100.0 |
|
Democratic hold |
54th district special election, 2013
31st district special election, 2016
References