2008 California State Senate election
← 2006 November 4, 2008 2010 →
20 seats from odd-numbered districts
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Darrell Steinberg Dave Cogdill
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat 6th–Sacramento 14th–Modesto
Seats before 25 15
Seats after 25 15
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 3,786,204 2,837,361
Percentage 55.06% 41.27%
Electoral results by State Senate district
President pro tempore before election

Darrell Steinberg
Democratic

Elected President pro tempore

Darrell Steinberg
Democratic

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The 2008 California State Senate elections took place on November 4, 2008. Voters in California's odd-numbered State Senate districts, a total of 20, voted for their state senators. No seats changed parties and the Democratic Party maintained its 25-seat majority, while the Republican Party held 15 seats. Other elections also took place in California on November 4.

Only a single State Senate district, the 19th, was considered truly competitive by political analysts.[1]

Overview

California State Senate elections, 2008[2][3]
Party Votes Percentage Seats
up 		Seats
not up 		Total
seats 		+/–
Democratic 3,786,204 55.06% 11 14 25 0
Republican 2,837,361 41.27% 9 6 15 0
Independent 131,248 1.91% 0 0 0 0
Libertarian 94,132 1.37% 0 0 0 0
Peace and Freedom 26,996 0.39% 0 0 0 0
Totals 6,875,941 100.00% 20 20 40 —
Voter turnout 72.60%

Composition

2007–2008 State Senate   2009–2010 State Senate
                                         
                                         
                                         
                                         
Color Key:   = Democratic   = Republican
Pre-election

Democratic: 25
Republican: 15
Total: 40

Contested: 20

Democratic uncontested: 14
Republican uncontested: 6
Total: 40

Post-election

Democratic: 25
Republican: 15
Total: 40

Results

The following candidates are the official results from the California Secretary of State.[2][3]

District 1

California's 1st State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dave Cox (incumbent) 267,426 62.27
Democratic Anselmo Chavez 162,044 37.73
Total votes 429,470 100.00
Turnout   75.31
Republican hold

District 3

California's 3rd State Senate district election, 2008
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

District 5

California's 5th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lois Wolk 207,108 64.54
Republican Greg Aghazarian 113,778 35.46
Total votes 320,886 100.00
Turnout   73.54
Democratic hold

District 7

California's 7th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark DeSaulnier 256,311 66.54
Republican Christian Amsberry 128,878 33.46
Total votes 385,189 100.00
Turnout   78.22
Democratic hold

District 9

California's 9th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Loni Hancock 272,225 77.22
Republican Claudia Bermudez 53,299 15.12
Peace and Freedom Marsha Feinland 26,996 7.66
Total votes 352,520 100.00
Turnout   70.50
Democratic hold

District 11

California's 11th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Simitian (incumbent) 272,154 74.82
Republican Blair Nathan 91,592 25.18
Total votes 363,746 100.00
Turnout   76.37
Democratic hold

District 13

California's 13th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Elaine Alquist (incumbent) 179,855 70.94
Republican Shane Connolly 57,033 22.49
Libertarian John Webster 16,659 6.57
Total votes 253,547 100.00
Turnout   75.24
Democratic hold

District 15

California's 15th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Abel Maldonado (incumbent) 222,617 62.91
Independent Jim Fitzgerald 131,229 37.09
Total votes 353,846 100.00
Turnout   74.71
Republican hold

District 17

California's 17th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican George Runner (incumbent) 182,295 54.85
Democratic Bruce McFarland 150,060 45.15
Total votes 332,355 100.00
Turnout   70.90
Republican hold

District 19

California's 19th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tony Strickland 207,976 50.10
Democratic Hannah-Beth Jackson 207,119 49.90
Independent Peter Diederich (write-in) 14 0.00
Total votes 415,109 100.00
Turnout   78.94
Republican hold

District 21

California's 21st State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Carol Liu 204,737 66.88
Republican Teddy Choi 77,525 25.33
Libertarian Steve Myers 23,842 7.79
Total votes 306,104 100.00
Turnout   69.81
Democratic hold

District 23

California's 23rd State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Fran Pavley 238,172 67.40
Republican Rick Montaine 96,274 27.25
Libertarian Colin Goldman 18,906 5.35
Total votes 353,352 100.00
Turnout   70.91
Democratic hold

District 25

California's 25th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roderick Wright 179,654 71.90
Republican Lydia Gutierrez 70,199 28.10
Total votes 249,853 100.00
Turnout   66.73
Democratic hold

District 27

California's 27th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Alan Lowenthal (incumbent) 171,668 67.34
Republican Allen Wood 83,268 32.66
Total votes 254,936 100.00
Turnout   67.36
Democratic hold

District 29

California's 29th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bob Huff 178,155 54.37
Democratic Joseph Lyons 127,536 38.92
Libertarian Jill Stone 21,983 6.71
Total votes 327,674 100.00
Turnout   69.66
Republican hold

District 31

California's 31st State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert Dutton (incumbent) 186,191 58.70
Democratic Ameenah Fuller 130,973 41.29
Independent Denise Sternberg (write-in) 5 0.00
Total votes 317,169 100.00
Turnout   70.43
Republican hold

District 33

California's 33rd State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mimi Walters 219,068 58.11
Democratic Gary Pritchard 157,945 41.89
Total votes 377,013 100.00
Turnout   69.46
Republican hold

District 35

California's 35th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Harman (incumbent) 222,149 58.55
Democratic Ginny Meyer 157,271 41.45
Total votes 379,420 100.00
Turnout   67.73
Republican hold

District 37

California's 37th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Benoit 190,415 54.79
Democratic Arthur Guerrero 157,142 45.21
Total votes 347,557 100.00
Turnout   72.48
Republican hold

District 39

California's 39th State Senate district election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Christine Kehoe (incumbent) 227,475 65.21
Republican Jeff Perwin 108,606 31.13
Libertarian Jesse Thomas 12,742 3.65
Total votes 348,823 100.00
Turnout   73.39
Democratic hold

References

  1. ^ Dayen, David (August 14, 2008). "The Calitics Target Book - The Drive For 2/3". Calitics. Archived from the original on November 27, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Statement of Vote: November 4, 2008, General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. December 15, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Report of Registration as of October 20, 2008: Registration by State Senate District" (PDF). California Secretary of State. October 31, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
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