California's 3rd senatorial district

California's 3rd senatorial district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Bill Dodd of Napa.

California's 3rd State Senate district
Current senator	Bill Dodd D–Napa
Population (2010)  • Voting age  • Citizen voting age	928,167[1] 716,049[1] 612,229[1]
Demographics	51.52% White 8.01% Black 24.98% Latino 12.48% Asian 1.00% Native American 0.64% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.32% other 1.04[1]% remainder of multiracial
Registered voters	556,418[2]
Registration	50.35% Democratic 21.10% Republican 22.84% No party preference

District profile

The district includes eastern California Wine Country and University of California, Davis, and consists of Napa, Yolo, and Solano Counties.

Election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results
2021	Recall	No 67.7 – 32.3%
2020	President	Biden 68.1 – 29.5%
2018	Governor[3]	Newsom 65.5 – 34.5%
	Senator[4]	Feinstein 53.9 – 46.1%
2016	President	Clinton 65.3 – 28.0%
	Senator	Harris 68.3 – 31.7%
2014	Governor	Brown 68.0 – 32.0%
2012	President	Obama 65.4 – 32.0%
	Senator	Feinstein 68.0 – 32.0%

List of senators who represented the district

Senator	Party	Years served	Electoral history	Counties represented
District established January 6, 1851
Pablo de la Guerra (Santa Barbara)	Whig	January 6, 1851 – January 5, 1852	Redistricted from the San Luis Obispo district and re-elected in 1850. Re-elected in 1853. Redistricted to the 2nd district.	San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara
Antonio M. de la Guerra (Santa Barbara)	Democratic	January 5, 1852 – January 3, 1853	Elected in 1851 Re-elected in 1852. [data missing]
Pablo de la Guerra (Santa Barbara)	Whig	January 3, 1853 – January 2, 1854	Elected in 1853. Redistricted to the 2nd district.
[data missing]		January 2, 1854 – January 1, 1855	[data missing]
Delos R. Ashley (San Luis Obispo)	Know Nothing	January 1, 1855 – January 5, 1857	Elected in 1855. [data missing]	Monterey, Santa Cruz
D. S. Gregory (Santa Cruz)	Democratic	January 5, 1857 – January 3, 1859	Elected in 1857. [data missing]
John H. Watson (Santa Cruz)	Democratic	January 3, 1859 – January 7, 1861	Elected in 1859. [data missing]
Romualdo Pacheco (Santa Barbara)	Union Democratic	January 7, 1861 – December 7, 1863	Elected in 1861. Retired to become California State Treasurer.	San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara
Juan Y. Cot (Santa Barbara)	Union	December 7, 1863 – December 4, 1865	Elected in 1863. [data missing]
Patrick W. Murphy (Santa Margarita)	Democratic	December 4, 1865 – January 7, 1869	Elected in 1865. Re-elected in 1887. [data missing]
Romualdo Pacheco (Santa Barbara)	Republican	January 7, 1869 – December 8, 1871	Elected in 1868. Resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of California.
James Van Ness (San Luis Obispo)	Democratic	December 8, 1871 – December 8, 1871	Elected to finish Pacheco's term. [data missing]
William J. Graves (San Luis Obispo)	Democratic	December 1, 1873 – December 3, 1877	Elected in 1873. Re-elected in 1875. [data missing]	San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura
Warren Chase (Santa Barbara)	Workingmen's	January 5, 1880 – January 8, 1883	Elected in 1879. Resigned to run for U.S. House of Representatives.
George Steele (San Luis Obispo)	Republican	January 8, 1883 – February 23, 1883	Elected to finish Chase's term. Unseated after his opponent contested election.[5]
J. Marion Brooks (Ventura)	Democratic	February 23, 1883 – January 5, 1885	Elected after successful contest. [data missing]
George Steele (San Luis Obispo)	Republican	January 5, 1885 – January 3, 1887	Elected in 1884. Redistricted to the 37th district.
W. H. Patterson (Cedarville)	Republican	January 3, 1887 – January 7, 1889	Elected in 1886. [data missing]	Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sierra
M. H. Mead (Downieville)	Democratic	January 7, 1889 – January 2, 1893	Elected in 1888. [data missing]
Tirey L. Ford (Downieville)	Republican	January 2, 1893 – January 4, 1897	Elected in 1982.	Nevada, Plumas, Sierra
William F. Prisk (Grass Valley)	Democratic	January 4, 1897 – January 1, 1901	Elected in 1896. Retired.
John R. Tyrrell (Grass Valley)	Republican	January 1, 1901 – January 2, 1905	Elected in 1900. [data missing]
John B. Irish (Colfax)	Republican	January 2, 1905 – January 4, 1909	Elected in 1904. [data missing]	Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Placer
E. S. Birdsall (Auburn)	Republican	January 4, 1909 – January 8, 1917	Elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1912. [data missing]
Thomas Ingram (Grass Valley)	Republican	January 8, 1917 – August 4, 1928	Elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1924. [data missing]	Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Placer, El Dorado
Bert A. Cassidy (Auburn)	Republican	January 7, 1929 – January 2, 1933	Elected in 1928. [data missing]
Harry A. Perry (Ferndale)	Republican	January 2, 1933 – January 4, 1937	Elected in 1932. [data missing]	Humboldt
Irwin T. Quinn (Auburn)	Democratic	January 4, 1937 – January 3, 1949	Elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1944. [data missing]
Michael J. Burns (Eureka)	Republican	January 3, 1949 – May 1, 1949	Elected in 1948. Died.
Vacant		May 1, 1949 – November 21, 1949
Arthur W. Way (Eureka)	Republican	November 21, 1949 – January 7, 1957	Elected to finish Burns's term. Re-elected in 1952. Lost renomination.
Carl L. Christensen (Eureka)	Democratic	January 7, 1957 – January 2, 1967	Elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1964. [data missing]
Stephen P. Teale (Rail Road Flat)	Democratic	January 2, 1967 – January 8, 1973	Redistricted from the 26th district and re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. [data missing]	Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Stanislaus, Tuolumne
Clare Berryhill (Ceres)	Republican	January 8, 1973 – November 30, 1976	Elected in 1972. [data missing]
Albert S. Rodda (Sacramento)	Democratic	December 6, 1976 – November 30, 1980	Redistricted from the 5th district and re-elected in 1976. Retired.	Sacramento
John Doolittle (Rocklin)	Republican	December 1, 1980 – November 30, 1984	Elected in 1980. Redistricted to the 1st district.
Milton Marks (San Francisco)	Democratic	December 3, 1984 – November 30, 1996	Redistricted from the 5th district and re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1992. Termed out.	Marin, San Francisco
				Marin, San Francisco, Sonoma
John Burton (San Francisco)	Democratic	December 2, 1996 – November 30, 2004	Elected in 1996. Re-elected in 2000. Termed out.
Carole Migden (San Francisco)	Democratic	December 6, 2004 – November 30, 2008	Elected in 2004. Lost renomination.
Mark Leno (San Francisco)	Democratic	December 1, 2008 – November 30, 2012	Elected in 2008. Redistricted to the 11th district.
Lois Wolk (Davis)	Democratic	December 3, 2012 – November 30, 2016	Redistricted from the 5th district and re-elected in 2012. Termed out.	Contra Costa, Napa, Sacramento, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo
Bill Dodd (Napa)	Democratic	December 5, 2016 – present	Elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2020. Retiring at the end of term due to term limits.

Election results

Contents

• 1992
• 1996
• 2000
• 2004
• 2008
• 2012
• 2016
• 2020

2020

California State Senate election, 2020

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Dodd (incumbent)	212,004	98.6%
	Republican	Carlos Santamaria (write-in)	2,126	1.0%
	Green	Karen I. Nyhus (write-in)	530	0.2%
	No party preference	Jaclyn Qirreh (write-in)	421	0.2%
Total votes			215,081	100.0%
General election
	Democratic	Bill Dodd (incumbent)	323,317	68.4%
	Republican	Carlos Santamaria	149,461	31.6%
Total votes			472,778	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2016

California State Senate election, 2016

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Dodd	90,396	37.4%
	Democratic	Mariko Yamada	72,243	29.9%
	Republican	Greg "Coach" Coppes	54,525	22.6%
	Democratic	Gabe Griess	24,540	10.2%
Total votes			241,704	100.0%
General election
	Democratic	Bill Dodd	207,927	58.1%
	Democratic	Mariko Yamada	149,701	41.9%
Total votes			357,628	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2012

California State Senate 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

2008

California State Senate election, 2008 Democratic Primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Leno	58,727	43.8%
	Democratic	Carole Migden (incumbent)	38,234	28.6%
	Democratic	Joseph Nation	37,136	27.6%
Total votes			134,097	100%

California State Senate election, 2008 Republican Primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sashi McEntee	23,791	100.0%
Total votes			23,791	100.0%

California State Senate election, 2008 General Election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Leno	326,755	80.21
	Republican	Sashi McEntee	80,617	19.79
Total votes			407,372	100.00
Turnout				78.08
	Democratic hold

2004

California State Senate election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carole Migden	258,166	70.40
	Republican	Andrew D. Felder	98,332	26.81
	Libertarian	David Rhodes	10,234	2.79
Total votes			366,732	100.00
	Democratic hold

2000

California State Senate election, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John L. Burton (incumbent)	238,372	72.92
	Republican	Terence Faulkner	71,256	21.80
	Natural Law	Celeste Joy Blau Joki	17,277	5.29
Invalid or blank votes			12,784	3.76
Total votes			339,689	100.00
	Democratic hold

1996

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

1992

California State Senate election, 1992

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Milton Marks (incumbent)	225,869	66.44
	Republican	Bill Boerum	85,323	25.10
	Libertarian	Will C. Wohler	16,590	4.88
	Peace and Freedom	Giovanni Graham	12,163	3.58
Invalid or blank votes			41,370	51.2
Total votes			381,315	100.00
	Democratic hold

See also

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

References

1. "Citizens Redistricting Commission Final Report, 2011" (PDF).
2. "Report of Registration as of July 3, 2020" (PDF).
3. "Supplement to the Statement of Vote Counties by Senate Districts for Governor" (PDF). ca.gov. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
4. "Supplement to the Statement of Vote Counties by State Senate Districts for United States Senator" (PDF). ca.gov. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
5. "George Steele unseated". cdnc.ucr.edu.

External links

• District map from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission