1996 California State Senate election

The 1996 California State Senate elections were held on November 5, 1996. Senate seats of odd-numbered districts were up for election. Senate terms are staggered so that half the membership is elected every two years. Senators serve four-year terms and are limited to two terms. Democrats expanded their majority, gaining two seats, one from the Republicans and one from an Independent.

1996 California State Senate election

← 1994 November 5, 1996 (1996-11-05) 1998 →
20 seats from odd-numbered districts in the California State Senate 21 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Bill Lockyer Rob Hurtt Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 10th–Hayward 34th–Garden Grove Seats before 21 17 Seats after 23 16 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 2,599,659 2,521,858 Percentage 49.32% 47.85%
Results:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election held
President pro tempore before election Bill Lockyer Democratic President pro tempore-designate Bill Lockyer Democratic

Overview

California State Senate elections, 1996
Party		Votes	Percentage	Not up	Incumbents	Open	Before	After	+/–
	Democratic	2,599,659	49.32%	14	3	4	21	23	+2
	Republican	2,521,858	47.85%	5	6	6	17	16	-1
	Libertarian	62,525	1.19%	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Natural Law	50,359	0.96%	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Reform	33,913	0.64%	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Peace and Freedom	20,601	0.39%	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Green	12,089	0.23%	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Write-ins	55	0.00%	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Independent	0	0.00%	1	0	1	2	1	-1
Invalid or blank votes		400,098	7.06%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Totals		5,670,635	100.00%	20	9	11	40	40	—

Composition

Pre-election		Seats
	Democratic-held	21
	Republican-held	17
	Independent-held	2
Total		40

1996 Elections		Seats
	Republican held and uncontested	11
	Democratic held and uncontested	8
	Independent-held and uncontested	1
	Contested	20
Total		40

State Senate: post-election		Seats
	Democratic-held	23
	Republican-held	16
	Independent-held	1
Total		40

Results

Final results from the California Secretary of State:^[1]

District 1 • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33 • District 35 • District 37 • District 39

District 1

California's 1st State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Leslie (incumbent)	215,931	63.14
	Democratic	Thomas "Tom" Romero	125,894	36.84
	No party	Lamar Norton Latimer (write-in)	55	0.02
Invalid or blank votes			19,850	5.49
Total votes			361,730	100.00
	Republican hold

District 3

California's 3rd State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John L. Burton	215,831	70.82
	Republican	Curtis Rau	72,097	23.68
	Libertarian	Donald E. Harte	16,819	5.52
Invalid or blank votes			37,018	10.83
Total votes			304,747	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 5

California's 5th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patrick Johnston (incumbent)	159,932	60.12
	Republican	Kurt C. Boese	108,075	39.88
Invalid or blank votes			12,981	4.65
Total votes			280,988	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 7

California's 7th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Rainey	161,291	48.01
	Democratic	Jeff Smith	160,632	47.61
	Reform	William John Knudeon	7,077	2.11
	Natural Law	Mark F. Billings	6,975	2.08
Invalid or blank votes			12,476	3.58
Total votes			348,451	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 9

California's 9th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Lee	196,430	78.23
	Republican	Thomas N. Hudson	37,341	14.87
	Peace and Freedom	Robert J. Evans	8,870	3.53
	Natural Law	Carol Flyer Prettie	8,465	3.37
Invalid or blank votes			22,120	8.10
Total votes			273,226	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 11

California's 11th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Byron Sher	177,155	57.90
	Republican	Patrick Shannon	117,547	38.42
	Libertarian	Jon W. Malonia	11,290	3.69
Invalid or blank votes			24,355	7.37
Total votes			276,347	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 13

California's 13th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Vasconcellos	117,640	58.59
	Republican	Ray Morton	55,737	27.76
	Reform	Dominic L. Cortese	17,715	6.82
	Libertarian	John Harvey Webster	6,684	3.32
	Natural Law	Rick J. Dunstan	3,021	1.60
Invalid or blank votes			19,222	8.74
Total votes			220,019	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 15

California's 15th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bruce McPherson	124,448	47.18
	Democratic	Rusty Areias	120,846	45.82
	Green	E. Craig Coffin	12,089	4.56
	Natural Law	Scott R. Hartley	6,377	2.42
Invalid or blank votes			11,400	4.14
Total votes			275,160	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 17

California's 17th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Knight	163,531	66.61
	Democratic	Steven A. Figueroa	61,962	33.39
Invalid or blank votes			17,880	6.79
Total votes			243,373	100.00
	Republican hold

District 19

California's 19th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cathie Wright (incumbent)	160,130	62.24
	Democratic	John Birke	97,133	37.76
Invalid or blank votes			17,032	6.21
Total votes			274,295	100.00
	Republican hold

District 21

California's 21st State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Adam Schiff	125,649	51.78
	Republican	Paula L. Boland	107,039	44.11
	Libertarian	Bob New	9,981	4.11
Invalid or blank votes			19,207	7.39
Total votes			261,876	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 23

California's 23rd State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Hayden (incumbent)	172,295	56.20
	Republican	Scott L. Schreiber	101,876	34.41
	Peace and Freedom	Shirley Rachel Isaacson	11,731	3.96
	Libertarian	Charles T. Black	7,438	2.51
	Natural Law	Robert P. Swanson	2,722	0.92
Invalid or blank votes			28,592	5.61
Total votes			324,654	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 25

California's 25th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Teresa P. Hughes (incumbent)	118,806	82.02
	Republican	Cliff McClain	28,038	17.98
Invalid or blank votes			17,971	11.04
Total votes			164,815	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 27

California's 27th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Betty Karnette	126,562	51.41
	Republican	Phil Hawkins	119,641	48.59
Invalid or blank votes			19,200	7.23
Total votes			265,403	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 29

California's 29th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dick Mountjoy (incumbent)	138,944	58.93
	Democratic	Tommy Randle	96,829	41.07
Invalid or blank votes			23,795	9.17
Total votes			259,568	100.00
	Republican hold

District 31

California's 31st State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Brulte	143,537	56.17
	Democratic	Gary George	103,217	41.83
Invalid or blank votes			17,795	6.73
Total votes			264,549	100.00
	Republican hold

District 33

California's 33rd State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Lewis (incumbent)	199,173	68.84
	Democratic	David Robert Heywood	91,011	31.36
Invalid or blank votes			19,466	6.29
Total votes			309,650	100.00
	Republican hold

District 35

California's 35th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ross Johnson (incumbent)	183,739	61.52
	Democratic	Madolene Arakeljian	103,170	34.54
	Natural Law	Nat Adam	11,780	3.94
Invalid or blank votes			20,812	6.51
Total votes			319,501	100.00
	Republican hold

District 37

California's 37th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David G. Kelley (incumbent)	157,090	61.14
	Democratic	Hans Alfred Schroeder	75,943	29.59
	Libertarian	Donna Tello	10,313	4.01
	Reform	George Angell	9,121	3.55
	Natural Law	Jim J. Moner	4,486	1.75
Invalid or blank votes			23,024	6.22
Total votes			279,977	100.00
	Republican hold

District 39

California's 39th State Senate district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dede Alpert	142,722	51.36
	Republican	Joe Dolphin	126,653	45.57
	Natural Law	Stuart Knoles	6,533	3.07
Invalid or blank votes			15,902	5.41
Total votes			291,810	100.00
	Democratic gain from Independent

See also

• California State Assembly
• California State Assembly elections, 1996
• California state elections, 1996
• California State Legislature
• California State Senate Districts
• Districts in California
• Political party strength in U.S. states
• Political party strength in California