California's 12th senatorial district

California's 12th senatorial district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Republican Shannon Grove of Bakersfield.

California's 12th State Senate district
Current senator	Shannon Grove R–Bakersfield
Population (2020)  • Voting age  • Citizen voting age	939,354[1]: 115 [2] 703,636[1]: 117  618,054[1]: 118
Demographics	48.73% White 3.53% Black 33.76% Latino 7.94% Asian 0.81% Native American 0.16% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.58% other 4.48[1]: 116 % remainder of multiracial
Registered voters	555,204[3]
Registration	44.90% Republican 28.49% Democratic 18.50% No party preference

District profile

Since 2022

New district boundaries drawn by the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission went into effect for the 2022 elections. The 12th State Senate district now encompasses the southeastern Central Valley and the northwestern corner of the Mojave Desert; and it includes portions of Fresno County, Kern, and Tulare Counties, including the following cities:^[1]: 70

• California City
• Clovis
• Exeter
• Maricopa
• Ridgecrest
• Taft
• Tehachapi
• Bakersfield (part)
• Fresno (part)
• Shafter (part)
• Tulare (part)
• Visalia (part)

The district also includes the Tule River Indian Reservation, Cold Springs Rancheria, Big Sandy Rancheria, and Table Mountain Rancheria.

Tourism, agriculture, and ranching are important in the district.^[1]: 70 The neighboring districts 14 and 16 were specifically drawn to allow Latino voters to elect state senators of their choice in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act,^[1]: 45 which affected the western border of District 12.^[1]: 70

The district's racial/ethnic demographics (based on the 2020 census) are as follows:^[2]

Senate District 12

Population	Latino	White	Black	American Indian	Asian	Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	Other	Multiracial
939,354	317,166	457,719	33,143	7,634	74,614	1,519	5,435	43,124

2012-2022

The district included the Salinas Valley and a swath of the Central Valley between Modesto and Fresno. The rural district was primarily agricultural and heavily Latino.^{[citation needed]}

Fresno County – 14.3% Coalinga Firebaugh Fowler Huron Kerman Kingsburg Mendota San Joaquin Madera County – 81.1% Chowchilla Madera

All of Merced County Atwater Dos Palos Gustine Livingston Los Banos Merced Monterey County – 54.2% Gonzales Greenfield King City Salinas Soledad

All of San Benito County Hollister San Juan Bautista Stanislaus County – 27.6% Ceres Newman Modesto – 11.5% Patterson

The district's demographics (based on the 2010 census) were as follows:^[4]

Senate District 12

Population	Voting age	Citizen voting age	White	Black	Latino	Asian	Native American	Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	Other	Multiracial
933,222	641,932	438,286	25.68%	3.00%	64.48%	5.12%	0.80%	0.27%	0.25%	0.39%

As of February 18, 2020, the district had 377,188 registered voters, of whom 45.00% were registered as Democrats, 26.35% were registered as Republicans, and 23.22% were registered with no party preference.^[5]

Election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results
2022	Governor[6]	Dahle 67.2 – 32.8%
	Senator[7]	Meuser 65.4 – 34.6%
	Senator[8]	Meuser 65.4 – 34.6%
2021	Recall[9]	No 53.2 – 46.8%
	Governor[10]	Elder 56.5 – 6.1%
2020	President	Biden 58.0 – 39.8%
2018	Governor[11]	Newsom 55.3 – 44.7%
	Senator[12]	De Leon 54.3 – 45.7%
2016	President	Clinton 57.3 – 37.1%
	Senator	Harris 50.5 – 49.5%
2014	Governor	Brown 54.9 – 45.1%
2012	President	Obama 57.6 – 40.3%
	Senator	Feinstein 59.0 – 41.0%
2010	Governor[13]	Brown 51.4 – 42.3%
	Senator[14]	Boxer 47.6 – 45.4%
2008	President[15]	Obama 57.9 – 40.3%
2006	Governor[16]	Schwarzenegger 58.0 – 37.3%
	Senator[17]	Feinstein 56.8 – 38.2%
2004	President[18]	Bush 51.2 – 47.7%
	Senator[19]	Boxer 54.0 – 41.9%
2003	Recall[20]	Yes 56.5 – 43.5%
	Governor[21]	Schwarzenegger 46.7 – 29.8%
2002	Governor	Davis 49.2 - 42.3%
2000	President	Bush 54.6 - 41.6%
	Senator	Feinstein 47.4 - 45.2%
1998	Governor	Lungren 49.2 - 48.4%
	Senator	Fong 51.3 - 44.7%
1996	President	Dole 47.5 - 43.1%
1994	Governor	Wilson 63.7 - 32.2%
	Senator	Huffington 53.9 - 37.6%
1992	President	Clinton 39.1 - 38.5%
	Senator	Herschensohn 49.5 - 40.8%
	Senator	Feinstein 47.3 - 44.5%

List of senators

Due to redistricting, the 12th district has been moved around different parts of the state. Its current boundaries resulted from the redistricting after the 2020 census by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission and went into effect in 2022.

Senators	Party	Years served	Counties represented	Notes
John T. Dougherty	Democratic	January 8, 1883 –January 3, 1887	San Francisco	Dougherty and Kelly served together.[22]
Martin Kelly		January 8, 1883 – January 3, 1887
Augustus Lemuel Chandler	Republican	January 3, 1887 – November 5, 1888	Sutter, Yuba	Died in office from pneumonia.[23]
Vacant		November 5, 1888 – January 7, 1889
F. H. Greely	Republican	January 7, 1889 – January 5, 1891
Daniel Augustus Ostrom	Democratic	January 5, 1891 – January 7, 1895
			Sutter, Yolo, Yuba
John Henry Shine	Republican	January 7, 1895 – January 2, 1899	Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tuolume
John Curtin	Democratic	January 2, 1899 – January 4, 1915
			Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tuolume
Lafayette Jackson Maddux		January 4, 1915 – January 6, 1919	Alpine, Calaveras, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Stanislaus, Tuolume
Lewis Lincoln Dennett	Republican	January 6, 1919 – January 3, 1927
James Charles Garrison		January 3, 1927 – January 5, 1931
Herbert W. Slater	Democratic	January 5, 1931 – August 13, 1947	Sonoma	Died in office from a heart attack.[24]
Vacant		August 13, 1947 – November 19, 1947
Clarence J. Tauzer	Republican	November 19, 1947 – September 4, 1948		Sworn in after winning special election.[25] Died in office from a heart attack.[26]
Vacant		September 4, 1948 – January 3, 1949
Farley Presley Abshire	Republican	January 3, 1949 – January 5, 1959
Joseph A. Rattigan	Democratic	January 5, 1959 – January 2, 1967
Richard J. Dolwig	Republican	January 2, 1967 – January 4, 1971	San Mateo
Arlen F. Gregorio	Democratic	January 4, 1971 – November 30, 1974
Jerry Smith		December 2, 1974 – December 14, 1979	Santa Clara	Resigned from the Senate.[27]
Vacant		December 14, 1979 – June 12, 1980
Dan O'Keefe	Republican	June 12, 1980 – November 30, 1982		Sworn in after winning special election.[28]
Dan McCorquodale	Democratic	December 6, 1982 – November 30, 1994	Santa Clara, Stanislaus
			Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne
Dick Monteith	Republican	December 5, 1994 – November 30, 2002
Jeff Denham		December 2, 2002 – November 30, 2010	Madera, Merceded, Monterey, San Benito, Stanislaus
Anthony Cannella		December 6, 2010 – November 30, 2018
			Fresno, Madera, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, Stanislaus
Anna Caballero	Democratic	December 3, 2018 – November 30, 2022
Shannon Grove	Republican	December 5, 2022 – present	Fresno, Kern, Tulare[29]

Election results

Contents

• 1990
• 1994
• 1998
• 2002
• 2006
• 2010
• 2014
• 2018
• 2022

2022

2022 California State Senate 12th district election^[30][31]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Shannon Grove (incumbent)	119,319	68.7
	Democratic	Susanne Gundy	54,289	31.3
Total votes			173,608	100.0
General election
	Republican	Shannon Grove (incumbent)	196,017	68.7
	Democratic	Susanne Gundy	89,471	31.3
Total votes			285,488	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

2018

2018 California State Senate 12th district election^[32][33]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Anna Caballero	46,970	43.3
	Republican	Rob Poythress	28,512	26.3
	Republican	Johnny Tacherra	24,088	22.2
	Democratic	Daniel Parra	8,740	8.1
	Democratic	Dennis J. Brazil (write-in)	208	0.2
Total votes			108,518	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Anna Caballero	110,386	54.4
	Republican	Rob Poythress	92,691	45.6
Total votes			203,077	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2014

2014 California State Senate 12th district election^[34][35]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Anthony Cannella (incumbent)	47,551	63.8
	Democratic	Shawn K. Bagley	27,017	36.2
Total votes			74,568	100.0
General election
	Republican	Anthony Cannella (incumbent)	74,988	60.5
	Democratic	Shawn K. Bagley	49,039	39.5
Total votes			124,027	100.0
	Republican hold

2010

2010 California State Senate 12th district election^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Anthony Cannella	92,270	51.5
	Democratic	Anna Caballero	86,963	48.5
Total votes			179,233	100.0
	Republican hold

2006

2006 California State Senate 12th district election^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Denham (incumbent)	92,879	59.8
	Democratic	Wiley Nickel	62,539	40.2
Total votes			155,418	100.0
	Republican hold

2002

2002 California State Senate 12th district election^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Denham	73,877	48.3
	Democratic	Rusty Areias	72,034	47.1
	Libertarian	David Eaton	6,950	4.5
Total votes			152,861	100.0
	Republican hold

1998

1998 California State Senate 12th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dick Monteith (incumbent)	110,690	53.0
	Democratic	Sal Cannella	91,623	43.9
	Libertarian	Mary Lee Gowlan	6,389	3.1
Total votes			208,702	100.00
	Republican hold

1994

1994 California State Senate 12th district election^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dick Monteith	100,902	49.5
	Democratic	Dan McCorquodale (incumbent)	96,543	47.3
	Libertarian	Linda Marie DeGroat	6,596	3.2
Total votes			204,041	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

1990

1994 California State Senate 12th district election^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McCorquodale (incumbent)	106,857	59.1
	Republican	Lori Kennedy	73,912	40.9
Total votes			180,769	100.0
	Democratic hold

Maps

• 
  California SD-12 (2011)
• 
  California's 12th state senate district after the 2020 redistricting cycle (went into effect for the 2022 election)

See also

• California State Senate
• California State Senate districts
• Districts in California