1992 United States Senate special election in California

United States Senate special election in California, 1992

November 3, 1992

Nominee Dianne Feinstein John F. Seymour Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 5,853,651 4,093,501 Percentage 54.3% 38.0%

County results Feinstein:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Seymour:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election John F. Seymour Republican Elected U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein Democratic

The 1992 United States Senate special election in California took place on November 3, 1992, at the same time as the regular election to the United States Senate in California. Both of California's Senators were elected for the first time. This is not a unique occurrence; it would happen again in Tennessee in 1994 and in Kansas in 1996.

The seat became vacant after incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pete Wilson won the 1990 gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat Dianne Feinstein. Wilson appointed John F. Seymour to the Senate to replace himself. In this special election held simultaneously with the regularly Senate election for the state's Class 3 Senate seat, Feinstein defeated Seymour to serve the remaining 2 years of the term. Feinstein subsequently held seniority over fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer, elected on the same day; because Feinstein was elected to complete an existing term, she took office on November 10, only 7 days after the election, while Boxer's term commenced with the beginning of the next session of Congress in January 1993.

Results

1992 special United States Senate election, California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dianne Feinstein	5,853,651	54.29%
	Republican	John F. Seymour (incumbent)	4,093,501	37.96%
	Peace and Freedom	Gerald Horne	305,697	2.84%
	American Independent	Paul Meeuwenberg	281,973	2.62%
	Libertarian	Richard Benjamin Boddie	247,799	2.30%
	No party	Write-ins	122	0.00
Invalid or blank votes			591,822	5.20%
Total votes			11,374,565	100.00%
Turnout				54.52
	Democratic gain from Republican

By county

County	Feinstein	Votes	Seymour	Votes	Horne	Votes	Meeu.	Votes	Boddie	Votes	W/I	V's
San Francisco	80.60%	250,972	15.79%	49,165	1.63%	5,062	0.62%	1,919	1.36%	4,233	0.00%	10
Alameda	72.56%	374,675	21.93%	113,223	2.30%	11,866	1.61%	8,323	1.60%	8,257	0.00%	23
Marin	71.26%	92,205	24.61%	31,846	1.45%	1,880	0.88%	1,142	1.80%	2,328	0.00%	0
Santa Cruz	67.88%	76,327	25.40%	28,562	2.49%	2,801	1.84%	2,072	2.39%	2,686	0.00%	1
San Mateo	67.25%	181,990	27.89%	75,470	1.84%	4,983	1.29%	3,478	1.73%	4,684	0.00%	0
Contra Costa	62.96%	229,988	31.62%	115,507	1.92%	7,011	1.77%	6,470	1.73%	6,320	0.00%	2
Sonoma	62.84%	121,471	29.38%	56,793	3.02%	5,846	2.43%	4,702	2.33%	4,502	0.00%	0
Santa Clara	62.19%	364,997	30.98%	181,858	2.15%	12,646	2.20%	12,912	2.47%	14,518	0.00%	2
Yolo	61.68%	37,340	31.70%	19,191	2.18%	1,319	2.27%	1,376	2.17%	1,311	0.00%	1
Mendocino	60.59%	22,000	30.28%	10,993	3.55%	1,290	2.86%	1,039	2.72%	988	0.00%	0
Solano	59.83%	77,739	32.30%	41,970	2.75%	3,571	2.84%	3,696	2.28%	2,960	0.00%	0
Humboldt	59.81%	35,178	33.18%	19,513	2.99%	1,756	2.13%	1,253	1.90%	1,117	0.00%	0
Monterey	58.89%	66,417	34.74%	39,182	2.10%	2,369	2.30%	2,590	1.96%	2,216	0.00%	0
Los Angeles	58.72%	1,552,223	34.03%	899,656	3.18%	84,093	2.09%	55,380	1.97%	52,123	0.00%	20
Napa	57.01%	29,875	35.38%	18,539	2.46%	1,288	2.93%	1,537	2.22%	1,161	0.00%	0
San Benito	55.51%	6,938	37.10%	4,637	2.34%	293	2.88%	360	2.16%	270	0.00%	0
Lake	55.10%	12,732	35.04%	8,096	3.12%	721	3.96%	916	2.77%	641	0.00%	0
Sacramento	53.77%	237,722	38.07%	168,318	2.99%	13,228	2.88%	12,716	2.29%	10,113	0.00%	1
Del Norte	50.92%	4,696	39.66%	3,658	2.56%	236	4.98%	459	1.89%	174	0.00%	0
Tuolumne	50.56%	11,895	40.59%	9,550	2.90%	682	3.40%	801	2.54%	597	0.01%	2
Stanislaus	50.11%	62,110	41.59%	51,549	2.84%	3,519	3.49%	4,325	1.98%	2,450	0.00%	0
Santa Barbara	49.63%	77,900	42.71%	67,043	3.43%	5,386	2.25%	3,535	1.98%	3,101	0.00%	0
San Joaquin	48.90%	76,607	43.11%	67,531	2.78%	4,360	3.27%	5,123	1.94%	3,043	0.00%	1
Imperial	48.77%	12,433	43.42%	11,070	3.77%	962	2.55%	651	1.48%	378	0.00%	0
Amador	48.29%	7,319	42.64%	6,463	2.40%	364	4.07%	617	2.60%	394	0.00%	0
Alpine	47.91%	287	42.07%	252	3.01%	18	4.51%	27	2.50%	15	0.00%	0
Merced	47.61%	22,010	43.79%	20,246	2.79%	1,289	2.95%	1,365	2.86%	1,323	0.00%	0
San L. Obispo	47.47%	48,376	43.94%	44,775	2.54%	2,587	3.08%	3,134	2.97%	3,030	0.00%	0
San Diego	46.97%	442,855	43.63%	411,362	3.21%	30,287	3.09%	29,149	3.10%	29,212	0.00%	3
Calaveras	46.64%	7,839	42.00%	7,059	2.32%	390	5.38%	905	3.65%	614	0.00%	0
Plumas	46.44%	4,647	43.64%	4,367	2.30%	230	4.53%	453	3.10%	310	0.00%	0
Nevada	46.04%	20,044	44.73%	19,476	2.90%	1,261	3.32%	1,444	3.02%	1,313	0.00%	0
Placer	45.75%	40,511	45.73%	40,497	2.38%	2,109	3.30%	2,920	2.84%	2,518	0.00%	0
Mariposa	45.38%	3,681	43.98%	3,568	3.09%	251	5.07%	411	2.48%	201	0.00%	0
El Dorado	45.34%	28,957	45.56%	29,101	2.37%	1,512	3.80%	2,427	2.93%	1,873	0.00%	0
Ventura	45.30%	119,366	46.32%	122,064	2.72%	7,167	3.04%	8,019	2.61%	6,882	0.00%	1
Sierra	45.12%	818	44.57%	808	2.48%	45	3.47%	63	4.36%	79	0.00%	0
Mono	45.11%	1,931	44.64%	1,911	2.83%	121	3.95%	169	3.48%	149	0.00%	0
Fresno	45.07%	94,988	48.48%	102,172	2.32%	4,888	2.25%	4,740	1.88%	3,959	0.00%	4
Butte	44.72%	37,396	45.57%	38,111	2.96%	2,477	3.56%	2,980	3.19%	2,666	0.00%	0
Riverside	44.56%	187,548	45.44%	191,258	3.52%	14,808	3.95%	16,632	2.54%	10,689	0.00%	0
Siskiyou	44.35%	8,963	45.42%	9,180	2.34%	473	5.16%	1,043	2.73%	551	0.00%	0
San Bernardino	44.35%	200,979	45.67%	206,969	3.64%	16,511	3.71%	16,804	2.61%	11,825	0.01%	48
Trinity	42.41%	2,743	43.66%	2,824	3.80%	246	6.29%	407	3.83%	248	0.00%	0
Yuba	40.76%	6,890	46.63%	7,882	3.07%	518	6.09%	1,030	3.45%	584	0.00%	0
Kings	40.70%	9,805	50.29%	12,115	3.74%	901	3.57%	860	1.70%	410	0.00%	0
Lassen	40.39%	4,005	47.64%	4,724	3.29%	326	5.59%	554	3.10%	307	0.00%	0
Orange	39.87%	377,170	50.93%	481,810	2.86%	27,056	3.42%	32,316	2.93%	27,729	0.00%	0
Madera	39.79%	11,682	52.14%	15,309	2.94%	862	3.63%	1,066	1.50%	441	0.00%	0
Tehama	39.31%	8,253	48.19%	10,116	2.99%	627	5.43%	1,140	4.08%	856	0.00%	0
Shasta	37.81%	25,111	51.48%	34,192	2.90%	1,928	4.62%	3,070	3.19%	2,116	0.00%	0
Colusa	37.58%	2,083	54.37%	3,014	2.53%	140	3.18%	176	2.35%	130	0.00%	0
Inyo	37.41%	3,067	52.66%	4,318	2.68%	220	4.34%	356	2.90%	238	0.00%	0
Sutter	36.43%	9,135	53.54%	13,427	2.38%	596	5.24%	1,313	2.42%	606	0.00%	0
Kern	36.31%	63,661	54.46%	95,483	3.22%	5,640	3.59%	6,289	2.43%	4,258	0.00%	3
Modoc	35.77%	1,572	52.95%	2,327	3.00%	132	5.21%	229	3.07%	135	0.00%	0
Tulare	35.71%	30,665	56.46%	48,493	2.72%	2,332	3.11%	2,674	2.00%	1,720	0.00%	0
Glenn	33.10%	2,864	56.73%	4,908	2.51%	217	4.81%	416	2.85%	247	0.00%	0

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1992
• United States Senate election in California, 1992

External links

• JoinCalifornia 1992 Special Election