2012 California State Senate election

The 2012 California State Senate election was held on November 6, 2012, with the primary election on June 5, 2012. Voters in the 20 odd-numbered districts of the California State Senate voted for their representatives. Other elections were also held on November 6. The same year, voters also passed Proposition 28 that relaxed term limits on legislators in both chambers.

2012 California State Senate election

November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06)
20 seats from odd-numbered districts in the California State Senate 21 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Darrell Steinberg Bob Huff Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 6th–Sacramento 29th–Diamond Bar Seats before 25 15 Seats after 29 11 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 4,035,256 2,321,286 Percentage 62.61% 36.02%
Results:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election held
President pro tempore before election Darrell Steinberg Democratic President pro tempore-designate Darrell Steinberg Democratic

Overview

California State Senate elections, 2012 Primary election — June 5, 2012
Party		Votes	Percentage	Candidates	Advancing to general	Seats contesting
	Democratic	1,534,788	59.34%	28	22	20
	Republican	1,015,668	39.27%	20	16	16
	Libertarian	23,098	0.89%	2	0	0
	No party preference	11,923	0.46%	1	0	0
	Peace and Freedom	788	0.03%	2	2	2
Totals		2,586,265	100.00%	53	40	—

California State Senate elections, 2012 General election — November 6, 2012
Party		Votes	Percentage	Not up	Contested	Before	After	+/–
	Democratic	4,035,256	62.61%	14	11	25	29	4
	Republican	2,321,286	36.02%	6	9	15	11	4
	Peace and Freedom	88,658	1.38%	0	0	0	0
Totals		6,445,200	100.00%	20	20	40	40	—

↓
29	11
Democratic	Republican

Results

District 1

California's 1st State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ted Gaines (incumbent)	110,168	48.2
	Democratic	Julie Griffith-Flatter	68,947	30.2
	Republican	Les Baugh	37,442	16.4
	No party preference	"Bo" Bogdan I. Ambrozewicz	11,923	5.2
Total votes			228,480	100.0
General election
	Republican	Ted Gaines (incumbent)	263,256	63.7
	Democratic	Julie Griffith-Flatter	150,111	36.3
Total votes			413,367	100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

California's 3rd State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lois Wolk (incumbent)	116,403	96.9
	Republican	Frank Miranda (write-in)	2,402	2.0
	Republican	Gary Clift (write-in)	1,341	1.1
Total votes			120,146	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Lois Wolk (incumbent)	233,406	66.2
	Republican	Frank Miranda	119,033	33.8
Total votes			352,439	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 5

California's 5th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cathleen Galgiani	52,148	40.7
	Republican	Bill Berryhill	45,819	35.8
	Republican	Leroy Ornellas	30,109	23.5
Total votes			128,076	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Cathleen Galgiani	142,145	50.5
	Republican	Bill Berryhill	139,502	49.5
Total votes			281,647	100.0
	Democratic win (new seat)

District 7

California's 7th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark DeSaulnier (incumbent)	91,224	57.0
	Republican	Mark P. Meuser	68,730	43.0
Total votes			159,954	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Mark DeSaulnier (incumbent)	229,105	61.5
	Republican	Mark P. Meuser	143,707	38.5
Total votes			372,812	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 9

California's 9th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Loni Hancock (incumbent)	123,624	99.3
	Peace and Freedom	Mary Catherine McIlroy (write-in)	785	0.6
	Libertarian	Lisa D. Ringer (write-in)	95	0.1
Total votes			124,504	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Loni Hancock (incumbent)	300,994	85.8
	Peace and Freedom	Mary Catherine McIlroy	49,987	14.2
Total votes			350,981	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 11

California's 11th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Leno (incumbent)	118,023	82.0
	Republican	Harmeet Dhillon	25,828	18.0
Total votes			143,851	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Mark Leno (incumbent)	303,241	84.7
	Republican	Harmeet Dhillon	54,887	15.3
Total votes			358,128	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 13

California's 13th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Hill	76,033	51.1
	Democratic	Sally J. Lieber	33,566	22.5
	Libertarian	John H. Webster	23,003	15.4
	Democratic	Christopher Kent Chiang	16,317	11.0
Total votes			148,919	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Jerry Hill	218,775	66.1
	Democratic	Sally J. Lieber	112,321	33.9
Total votes			331,096	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 15

California's 15th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Beall	69,179	55.5
	Democratic	Joe Coto	55,387	44.5
Total votes			124,566	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Jim Beall	160,451	56.7
	Democratic	Joe Coto	122,345	43.3
Total votes			282,796	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 17

California's 17th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Monning	110,890	59.4
	Republican	Larry Beaman	75,713	40.6
Total votes			186,603	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Bill Monning	236,213	63.3
	Republican	Larry Beaman	136,836	36.7
Total votes			373,049	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 19

California's 19th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Stoker	69,252	44.9
	Democratic	Hannah-Beth Jackson	64,219	41.6
	Democratic	Jason Hodge	20,828	13.5
Total votes			154,299	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Hannah-Beth Jackson	180,780	55.7
	Republican	Mike Stoker	143,819	44.3
Total votes			324,599	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 21

California's 21st State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Knight	61,245	69.0
	Democratic	Star Moffatt	27,545	31.0
Total votes			88,790	100.0
General election
	Republican	Steve Knight	153,412	57.6
	Democratic	Star Moffatt	112,780	42.4
Total votes			266,192	100.0
	Republican hold

District 23

California's 23rd State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Emmerson (incumbent)	70,465	65.0
	Democratic	Melissa Ruth O'Donnell	37,939	35.0
Total votes			108,404	100.0
General election
	Republican	Bill Emmerson (incumbent)	159,045	56.3
	Democratic	Melissa Ruth O'Donnell	123,518	43.7
Total votes			282,563	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 25

California's 25th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Liu (incumbent)	62,930	51.3
	Republican	Gilbert V. Gonzales	53,093	43.3
	Democratic	Ameenah Fuller	6,592	5.4
Total votes			122,615	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Carol Liu (incumbent)	213,127	60.8
	Republican	Gilbert V. Gonzales	137,651	39.2
Total votes			350,778	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 27

California's 27th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Todd Zink	68,384	51.1
	Democratic	Fran Pavley (incumbent)	65,552	48.9
Total votes			133,936	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Fran Pavley (incumbent)	197,757	53.6
	Republican	Todd Zink	171,438	46.4
Total votes			369,195	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 29

California's 29th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Huff (incumbent)	68,708	64.3
	Democratic	Greg Diamond	38,169	35.7
Total votes			106,877	100.0
General election
	Republican	Bob Huff (incumbent)	160,912	55.1
	Democratic	Greg Diamond	131,228	44.9
Total votes			292,140	100.0
	Republican hold

District 31

California's 31st State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Miller	38,641	51.1
	Democratic	Richard Roth	21,812	28.8
	Democratic	Steve Clute	15,191	20.1
Total votes			75,644	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Richard Roth	133,882	55.3
	Republican	Jeff Miller	108,320	44.7
Total votes			242,202	100.0
	Democratic win (new seat)

District 33

California's 33rd State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ricardo Lara	35,865	100.0
	Peace and Freedom	Lee H. Chauser (write-in)	3	0.0
Total votes			35,868	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Ricardo Lara	158,707	80.4
	Peace and Freedom	Lee H. Chauser	38,671	19.6
Total votes			197,378	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 35

California's 35th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roderick Wright (incumbent)	40,312	57.4
	Republican	Charlotte A. Svolos	18,793	26.8
	Democratic	Paul Butterfield	11,091	15.8
Total votes			70,196	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Roderick Wright (incumbent)	192,483	76.5
	Republican	Charlotte A. Svolos	59,077	23.5
Total votes			251,560	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 37

California's 37th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mimi Walters (incumbent)	88,321	63.6
	Democratic	Steve Young	50,562	36.4
Total votes			138,883	100.0
General election
	Republican	Mimi Walters (incumbent)	213,086	57.0
	Democratic	Steve Young	160,595	43.0
Total votes			373,681	100.0
	Republican hold

District 39

California's 39th State Senate district election, 2012

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Marty Block	85,930	46.3
	Republican	George Plescia	81,214	43.7
	Democratic	Patrick L. Marsh	18,510	10.0
Total votes			185,654	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Marty Block	221,012	58.4
	Republican	George Plescia	157,305	41.6
Total votes			378,317	100.0
	Democratic hold

External links

• California State Senate elections, 2012 from Ballotpedia