2018 California State Board of Equalization elections

The 2018 California State Board of Equalization elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. The primary election was held on June 5, 2018. All four seats on the State Board of Equalization were contested.

2018 California State Board of Equalization elections

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All 4 seats on the California State Board of Equalization
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 2 2 Seats before 2 2 Seats won 3 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 7,293,298 4,607,891 Percentage 61.3% 38.7%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold

The board's members serve four-year terms and are limited to two terms.

A nonpartisan blanket primary was used for the election, starting with the primary in June 2018. The top-two primary finishers in each district, regardless of party, advanced to the general election in November. Republicans lost one seat to the Democrats, leaving only one Republican board member remaining.

Overview

Overall results

California State Board of Equalization primary election, 2018[1]
Party		Votes		Candidates	Advancing to general	Seats contesting
		No.	%
	Democratic Party	3,596,705	57.5%	13	4	4
	Republican Party	2,615,705	41.8%	9	4	4
	No party preference	43,084	0.7%	1	0	0
Total		6,255,494	100.0%	23	8

California State Board of Equalization general election, 2018[2]
Party		Candidates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	Before	After	+/–	%
	Democratic Party	4	7,293,298	61.3%	2	3	1	75.0%
	Republican Party	4	4,607,891	38.7%	2	1	1	25.0%
Total		8	11,901,189	100.0%	4	4		100.0%

Popular vote Democratic   61.3% Republican   38.7%

Board of Equalization seats Democratic   75.0% Republican   25.0%

By district

Results of the 2018 California state Board of Equalization election by district:^[2]

District	Democratic		Republican		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	1,355,782	48.6%	1,436,547	51.4%	2,792,329	100.0%	Republican hold
District 2	2,482,171	72.8%	927,949	27.2%	3,410,120	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 3	1,895,972	69.9%	815,829	30.1%	2,711,801	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 4	1,559,373	52.2%	1,427,566	47.8%	2,986,939	100.0%	Democratic gain
Total	7,293,298	61.3%	4,607,891	38.7%	11,901,189	100.0%

Board of Equalization District	Incumbent	Party		Elected officeholder	Party
1st[3]	George Runner		Republican	Ted Gaines		Republican
2nd[4]	Fiona Ma		Democratic	Malia Cohen		Democratic
3rd[5]	Jerome Horton		Democratic	Tony Vazquez		Democratic
4th[6]	Diane Harkey		Republican	Mike Schaefer		Democratic

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. State Board of Equalization district 1, 2.8%
2. State Board of Equalization district 4, 4.4%

Detailed results

District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4

District 1

The incumbent was Republican George Runner, who was term-limited and ineligible to run for reelection. Runner was succeeded by Republican Ted Gaines.

Results

2018 California's 1st Board of Equalization district primary results by county

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•   Hallinan—50–60%
•   Hallinan—40–50%
•   Hallinan—30–40%
•   Gaines—30–40%
•   Gaines—40–50%
•   Gaines—50–60%
•   Conway—30–40%
•   Conway—40–50%

2018 California's 1st Board of Equalization district general election results by county

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•   Gaines—70–80%
•   Gaines—60–70%
•   Gaines—50–60%
•   Hallinan—50–60%
•   Hallinan—60–70%

California's 1st Board of Equalization district, 2018^[1][2]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Hallinan	606,159	39.4
	Republican	Ted Gaines	500,879	32.6
	Republican	Connie Conway	283,477	18.4
	Republican	David Evans	147,473	9.6
Total votes			1,537,988	100.0
General election
	Republican	Ted Gaines	1,436,547	51.4
	Democratic	Tom Hallinan	1,355,782	48.6
Total votes			2,792,329	100.0
	Republican hold

General election results by county

Red represents counties won by Gaines. Blue represents counties won by Hallinan. General election results by county[2] County Gaines (R) Hallinan (D) Total Votes  % Votes  % Votes Alpine 229 38.4% 367 61.6% 596 Amador 11,038 64.6% 6,055 35.4% 17,093 Butte 45,565 53.1% 40,251 46.9% 85,816 Calaveras 13,402 64.1% 7,511 35.9% 20,913 El Dorado 52,363 60.4% 34,382 39.6% 86,745 Fresno 126,507 52.0% 116,887 48.0% 243,394 Inyo 3,960 56.5% 3,049 43.5% 7,009 Kern 119,379 60.0% 79,589 40.0% 198,968 Kings 17,920 60.4% 11,762 39.6% 29,684 Lassen 6,858 77.6% 1,981 22.4% 8,839 Los Angeles 148,406 39.6% 226,007 60.4% 374,413 Madera 23,116 61.5% 14,473 38.5% 37,589 Mariposa 4,960 61.6% 3,095 38.4% 8,055 Merced 27,557 47.9% 29,940 52.1% 57,497 Modoc 2,603 76.6% 796 23.4% 3,399 Mono 2,193 46.7% 2,503 53.3% 4,696 Nevada 25,471 48.7% 26,862 51.3% 52,333 Placer 103,211 60.4% 67,536 39.6% 170,747 Plumas 5,755 64.0% 3,234 36.0% 8,989 Sacramento 215,401 43.6% 278,817 56.4% 494,218 San Bernardino 151,162 53.1% 133,297 46.9% 284,459 San Joaquin 91,252 48.5% 96,811 51.5% 188,063 Shasta 48,646 70.9% 19,983 29.1% 68,629 Sierra 1,053 63.9% 596 36.1% 1,649 Siskiyou 10,775 60.4% 7,055 39.6% 17,380 Stanislaus 76,110 49.9% 77,544 50.1% 152,654 Sutter 18,334 63.7% 10,442 36.3% 28,776 Tulare 57,084 58.5% 40,413 41.5% 97,497 Tuolumne 14,172 61.5% 8,855 38.5% 18,754 Yuba 12,065 64.3% 6,689 35.7% 18,754 Totals 1,436,547 51.4% 1,355,782 48.6% 2,792,329

District 2

The incumbent was Democrat Fiona Ma, who was elected state treasurer. Ma was succeeded by Democrat Malia Cohen.

Results

2018 California's 2nd Board of Equalization district primary results by county

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•   Cohen—50–60%
•   Cohen—40–50%
•   Cohen—30–40%
•   Burns—30–40%
•   Burns—40–50%
•   Burns—50–60%
•   Burns—60–70%

2018 California's 2nd Board of Equalization district general election results by county

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•   Cohen—80–90%
•   Cohen—70–80%
•   Cohen—60–70%
•   Cohen—50–60%
•   Burns—50–60%
•   Burns—60–70%
•   Burns—70–80%

California's 2nd Board of Equalization district, 2018^[1][2]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Malia Cohen	723,355	38.7
	Republican	Mark Burns	502,143	26.9
	Democratic	Cathleen Galgiani	480,887	25.7
	Democratic	Barry Chang	163,102	8.7
Total votes			1,869,487	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Malia Cohen	2,482,171	72.8
	Republican	Mark Burns	927,949	27.2
Total votes			3,410,120	100.0
	Democratic hold

General election results by county

Blue represents counties won by Cohen. Red represents counties won by Burns. General election results by county[2] County Burns (R) Cohen (D) Total Votes  % Votes  % Votes Alameda 103,612 18.8%% 448,170 81.2% 551,782 Colusa 3,425 38.3% 2,128 61.7% 5,553 Contra Costa 122,204 30.9% 272,804 69.1% 395,008 Del Norte 4,720 57.7% 3,458 42.3% 8,178 Glenn 5,535 68.1% 2,589 38.9% 8,124 Humboldt 17,436 34.0% 33,850 66.0% 51,286 Lake 11,049 46.3% 9,529 53.7% 20,578 Marin 25,923 21.2% 96,214 78.8% 122,137 Mendocino 10,308 32.0% 21,954 68.0% 32,262 Monterey 36,985 32.5% 76,665 67.5% 113,650 Napa 18,596 34.3% 35,619 65.7% 54,214 San Benito 8,081 41.4% 11,442 58.6% 19,523 San Francisco 47,753 14.0% 292,973 86.0% 340,726 San Luis Obispo 56,831 47.0% 64,104 53.0% 120,935 San Mateo 66,272 24.4% 205,804 75.6% 272,076 Santa Barbara 52,216 38.1% 91,502 61.9% 143,718 Santa Clara 163,979 27.8% 425,397 72.2% 589,376 Santa Cruz 25,324 22.1% 89,496 77.9% 114,820 Solano 52,116 36.6% 90,320 63.4% 142,436 Sonoma 53,770 26.5% 149,191 73.5% 202,961 Tehama 14,374 70.1% 6,129 29.9% 20,503 Trinity 2,885 55.6% 2,308 44.4% 5,193 Yolo 22,075 31.1% 49,005 68.9% 71,080 Totals 927,949 27.2% 2,482,171 72.8% 3,410,120

District 3

The incumbent was Democrat Jerome Horton, who was term-limited and ineligible to run for reelection. Horton was succeeded by Democrat Tony Vazquez.

Results

2018 California's 3rd Board of Equalization district primary results by county

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•   Marshall—40–50%
•   Marshall—30–40%
•   Marshall—20–30%

2018 California's 3rd Board of Equalization district general election results by county

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•   Vazquez—70–80%
•   Vazquez—50–60%
•   Marshall—50–60%

California's 3rd Board of Equalization district, 2018^[1][2]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	G. Rick Marshall	335,570	26.4
	Democratic	Tony Vazquez	255,988	20.2
	Democratic	Cheryl C. Turner	214,916	16.9
	Democratic	Scott Svonkin	170,254	13.4
	Democratic	Nancy Pearlman	160,105	12.6
	Democratic	Doug Kriegel	44,962	3.5
	Democratic	Ben Pak	44,588	3.5
	No party preference	Micheál "Me-Haul" O'Leary	43,084	3.4
Total votes			1,269,467	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Tony Vazquez	1,895,972	69.9
	Republican	G. Rick Marshall	815,829	30.1
Total votes			2,711,801	100.0
	Democratic hold

General election results by county
Blue represents counties won by Vazquez. Red represents counties won by Marshall. General election results by county[2] County Marshall (R) Vazquez (D) Total Votes  % Votes  % Votes Los Angeles 665,421 27.9% 1,723,801 72.1% 2,389,222 Orange 13,983 53.6% 12,122 46.4% 26,105 Ventura 136,425 46.0% 160,049 54.0% 296,474 Totals 815,829 30.1% 1,895,972 69.9% 2,711,801

District 4

The incumbent was Republican Diane Harkey, who retired to run for California's 49th congressional district.^[7] Harkey was succeeded by Democrat Mike Schaefer, giving Democrats a majority on the Board of Equalization.

Endorsements

Joel Anderson (R)

Notable individuals and organizations

• Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association^[8]

Results

California's 4th Board of Equalization district primary results by county

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•   Anderson—30–40%
•   Anderson—20–30%
•   Lopez-Maddox—20–30%

California's 4th Board of Equalization district general election results by county

Map legend

•   Schaefer—60–70%
•   Schaefer—50–60%
•   Anderson—50–60%

California's 4th Board of Equalization district, 2018^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joel Anderson	492,122	31.2
	Democratic	Mike Schaefer	269,044	17.0
	Republican	John F. Kelly	263,294	16.7
	Democratic	David Dodson	234,534	14.9
	Democratic	Ken Lopez-Maddox	228,811	14.5
	Republican	Jim Stieringer	58,642	3.7
	Republican	Nader F. Shahatit	32,105	2.0
Total votes			1,578,552	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Mike Schaefer	1,559,373	52.2
	Republican	Joel Anderson	1,427,566	47.8
Total votes			2,986,939	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

General election results by county

Blue represents counties won by Schaefer. Red represents counties won by Anderson. General election results by county[2] County Anderson (R) Schaefer (D) Total Votes  % Votes  % Votes Imperial 12,381 37.9% 20,321 62.1% 32,702 Orange 531,307 51.3% 503,939 48.7% 1,035,246 Riverside 310,294 50.1% 309,535 49.9% 619,829 San Bernardino 87,306 41.4% 123,467 58.6% 210,773 San Diego 486,278 44.7% 602,111 55.3% 1,088,389 Totals 1,427,566 47.8% 1,559,373 52.2% 2,986,939