Special elections to the California State Assembly are called by the Governor of California when a vacancy arises within the State Assembly . Most special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first is an open primary and the candidate with the most votes must have a majority of the votes plus one to win the seat. If no candidate wins a majority a second round is held with the two top candidates regardless of party.
Recall elections , the process by which voters petition for the removal of an elected official, are also included.
List of special elections [ edit ] The dates listed only include the open primary round if no second round was held.
District
Date
Predecessor
Winner
30
January 23, 1962
Ralph Brown (D )
John Veneman (R )
8
November 5, 1962
Jimmy Hicks (D )
Walter Powers (D )
49
May 9, 1967
Charles Chapel (R )
Robert Beverly (D )
30
May 20, 1969
John Veneman (R )
Clare Berryhill (R )
34
June 17, 1969
Alan Pattee (R )
Bob Wood (R )
48
November 16, 1971
David Roberti (D )
Bill Brophy (R )
76
November 16, 1971
Pete Wilson (R )
Bob Wilson (D )
49
June 6, 1972
Peter F. Schabarum (R )
William H. Lancaster (R )
38
May 29, 1973
Carley V. Porter (D )
Robert M. McLennan (R )
67
June 26, 1973
Larry Townsend (D )
Paul Bannai (R )
80
June 26, 1973
John Stull (R )
William A. Craven (R )
12
September 4, 1973
Robert Monagan (R )
Doug Carter (R )
14
September 4, 1973
Robert Crown (D )
Bill Lockyer (D )
15
March 4, 1975
Carlos Bee (D )
Floyd Mori (D )
4
December 2, 1975
Edwin Z'berg (D )
Vic Fazio (D )
47
July 15, 1975
Bill Greene (D )
Teresa Hughes (D )
46
June 2, 1977
Charles Warren (D )
Mike Roos (D )
44
June 28, 1977
Alan Sieroty (D )
Mel Levine (D )
55
June 3, 1986
Richard Alatorre (D )
Richard Polanco (D )
56
May 12, 1987
Gloria Molina (D )
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D )
16
April 12, 1988
Art Agnos (D )
John Burton (D )
50
February 7, 1989
Curtis R. Tucker (D )
Curtis R. Tucker Jr. (D )
76
October 3, 1989
Bill Bradley (R )
Tricia Hunter (R )
27
January 30, 1990
Gary Condit (D )
Sal Cannella (D )
78
June 5, 1990
Lucy Killea (D )
Jeff Marston (R )
26
May 14, 1991
Patrick Johnston (D )
Dean Andal (R )
46
July 30, 1991
Mike Roos (D )
Barbara Friedman (D )
5
September 17, 1991
Tim Leslie (R )
B. T. Collins (R )
67
September 17, 1991
John Lewis (R )
Mickey Conroy (R )
31
February 21, 1993
Bruce Bronzan (D )
Cruz Bustamante (D )
5
July 27, 1993
B. T. Collins (R )
Barbara Alby (R )
27
November 2, 1993
Sam Farr (D )
Bruce McPherson (R )
79
April 12, 1994
Steve Peace (D )
Denise Moreno Ducheny (D )
43
May 3, 1994
Pat Nolan (R )
Jim Rogan (R )
60
May 16, 1995
Paul Horcher (R )
Gary Miller (R )
59
June 6, 1995
Dick Mountjoy (R )
Bob Margett (R )
72
September 12, 1995
Ross Johnson (R )
Dick Ackerman (R )
67
November 28, 1995
Doris Allen (R )
Scott Baugh (R )
13
March 26, 1996
Willie Brown (D )
Carole Migden (D )
46
January 13, 1998
Louis Caldera (D )
Gil Cedillo (D )
16
March 30, 1999
Don Perata (D )
Audie Bock (G )
49
April 3, 2001
Gloria Romero (D )
Judy Chu (D )
65
April 3, 2001
Jan Leja (R )
Russ Bogh (R )
53
September 13, 2005
Mike Gordon (D )
Ted Lieu (D )
39
May 15, 2007
Richard Alarcón (D )
Felipe Fuentes (D )
55
February 5, 2008
Laura Richardson (D )
Warren Furutani (D )
51
September 1, 2009
Curren Price (D )
Steven Bradford (D )
72
January 12, 2010
Michael Duvall (R )
Chris Norby (R )
43
June 8, 2010
Paul Krekorian (D )
Mike Gatto (D )
4
May 3, 2011
Ted Gaines (R )
Beth Gaines (R )
80
May 21, 2013
Ben Hueso (D )
Lorena Gonzalez (D )
52
July 23, 2013
Norma Torres (D )
Freddie Rodriguez (D )
45
November 19, 2013
Bob Blumenfield (D )
Matt Dababneh (D )
54
December 3, 2013
Holly Mitchell (D )
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D )
31
April 5, 2016
Henry Perea (D )
Joaquin Arambula (D )
51
December 5, 2017
Jimmy Gomez (D )
Wendy Carrillo (D )
54
April 3, 2018
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D )
Sydney Kamlager (D )
39
June 5, 2018
Raul Bocanegra (D )
Luz Rivas (D )
45
June 5, 2018
Matt Dababneh (D )
Jesse Gabriel (D )
79
April 6, 2021
Shirley Weber (D )
Akilah Weber (D )
54
May 18, 2021
Sydney Kamlager (D )
Isaac Bryan (D )
18
August 31, 2021
Rob Bonta (D )
Mia Bonta (D )
49
February 15, 2022
Ed Chau (D )
Mike Fong (D )
11
April 5, 2022
Jim Frazier (D )
Lori Wilson (D )
17
April 19, 2022
David Chiu (D )
Matt Haney (D )
62
June 7, 2022
Autumn Burke (D )
Tina McKinnor (D )
80
June 7, 2022
Lorena Gonzalez (D )
David Alvarez (D )
List of recall elections [ edit ] When applicable, the candidate who succeeded the recalled state assemblymember is listed. If the recall election was not successful the winner is listed as "none".
Results [ edit ] 53rd district special election, 2005 [ edit ] 39th district special election, 2007 [ edit ] 55th district special election, 2008 [ edit ] 51st district special election, 2009 [ edit ] 72nd district special election, 2010 [ edit ] 43rd district special election, 2010 [ edit ] 4th district special election, 2011 [ edit ] 80th district special election, 2013 [ edit ] 52nd district special election, 2013 [ edit ]
California's 52nd State Assembly district special election, 2013Norma Torres
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
No party preference
Paul S. Leon
4,219
24.9
Democratic
Freddie Rodriguez
3,758
22.2
Republican
Dorothy F. Pineda
2,453
14.5
Democratic
Jason A. Rothman
1,545
9.1
Democratic
Tom Haughey
1,482
8.7
Democratic
Danielle Soto
1,259
7.4
Democratic
Doris Louise Wallace
887
5.2
Democratic
Paul Vincent Avila
752
4.4
Democratic
Manuel Saucedo
597
3.5
Total votes
16,952
100.0
General election
Democratic Freddie Rodriguez 7,630
51.3
No party preference
Paul S. Leon
7,230
48.7
Total votes
14,860
100.0
Democratic hold
45th district special election, 2013 [ edit ]
California's 45th State Assembly district special election, 2013Bob Blumenfield
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Matt Dababneh
6,088
24.7
Republican
Susan Shelley
5,205
21.1
Democratic
Jeff Ebenstein
3,407
13.8
Republican
Chris Kolski
3,141
12.7
Democratic
Andra Hoffman
2,477
10.0
Democratic
Damian Carroll
1,680
6.8
Democratic
Elizabeth Badger
679
2.8
Democratic
Dennis De Young
673
2.7
Republican
Armineh Chelebian
624
2.5
No party preference
Eric Lewis
432
1.8
Democratic
Dan McCrory
262
1.1
Total votes
24,668
100.0
General election
Democratic Matt Dababneh 14,984
50.6
Republican
Susan Shelley
14,655
49.4
Total votes
29,639
100.0
Democratic hold
54th district special election, 2013 [ edit ] 31st district special election, 2016 [ edit ] 51st district special election, 2017 [ edit ]
California's 51st State Assembly district special election, 2017Jimmy Gomez
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Wendy Carrillo
5,058
22.2
Democratic
Luis López
4,243
18.6
Democratic
Mike Fong
3,675
16.1
Democratic
Gabriel Sandoval
2,370
10.4
Democratic
Ron Birnbaum
2,213
9.7
Democratic
Alex De Ocampo
1,803
7.9
Democratic
David Vela
1,075
4.7
Democratic
Mark Vargas
1,022
4.5
Libertarian
Andrew S. Aguero
405
1.8
No party preference
Patrick Koppula
328
1.4
Democratic
Barbara Torres
284
1.2
Peace and Freedom
John Prysner
232
1.0
Democratic
Mario Olmos
122
0.5
Total votes
22,830
100.0
General election
Democratic Wendy Carrillo 11,100
53.5
Democratic
Luis López
9,631
46.5
Total votes
20,731
100.0
Democratic hold
54th district special election, 2018 [ edit ] 39th district special election, 2018 [ edit ] 45th district special election, 2018 [ edit ]
California's 45th State Assembly district special election, 2018Matt Dababneh
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Jesse Gabriel
10,632
32.7
Republican
Justin M. Clark
8,172
25.1
Democratic
Tricia Robbins Kasson
5,507
16.9
Democratic
Ankur Patel
3,698
11.4
No party preference
Dennis Zine
2,491
7.7
Democratic
David Brin
752
2.3
Democratic
Raymond J. Bishop
685
2.1
Democratic
Jeff Bornstein
590
1.8
Democratic
C.R. Cochrane (write-in )
7
0.0
Total votes
32,534
100.0
General election
Democratic Jesse Gabriel 46,168
65.7
Republican
Justin M. Clark
24,109
34.3
Total votes
70,277
100.0
Democratic hold
1st district special election, 2019 [ edit ]
California's 1st State Assembly district special election, 2019Brian Dahle [8] [9]
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Elizabeth Betancourt
27,786
39.1
Republican
Megan Dahle
25,669
36.2
Republican
Patrick Henry Jones
12,298
17.3
Republican
Joe Turner
3,943
5.6
Republican
Lane Rickard
1,305
1.8
Total votes
71,001
100.0
General election
Republican Megan Dahle 59,991
57.3
Democratic
Elizabeth Betancourt
44,618
42.7
Total votes
104,609
100.0
Republican hold
79th district special election, 2021 [ edit ] 54th district special election, 2021 [ edit ] 18th district special election, 2021 [ edit ]
California's 18th State Assembly district special election, 2021Rob Bonta [13]
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Mia Bonta
22,558
38.2
Democratic
Janani Ramachandran
14,036
23.7
Democratic
Malia Vella
10,053
17.0
Republican
Stephen Slauson
5,725
9.7
Democratic
Victor Aguilar
3,938
6.7
Democratic
James Aguilar
1,039
1.8
Democratic
Eugene Canson
1,029
1.7
No party preference
Joel Britton
750
1.3
Total votes
59,128
100.0
General election
Democratic Mia Bonta 43,460
56.8
Democratic
Janani Ramachandran
33,012
43.2
Total votes
76,472
100.0
Democratic hold
49th district special election, 2022 [ edit ] 17th district special election, 2022 [ edit ] 11th district special election, 2022 [ edit ] 62nd district special election, 2022 [ edit ] 80th district special election, 2022 [ edit ] References [ edit ]
^ "Special Election Results Member of the State Assembly, District 53 Special Primary Election, September 13, 2005: Official Canvass" (PDF) . Secretary of State of California . 2005-09-21. Retrieved 2009-02-21 .^ "Special Election Results State Assembly, 39th District Special Primary Election, May 15, 2007: Official Canvass" (PDF) . Secretary of State of California . 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-05-18 .^ "State Assembly, 55th District Special General Election, February 5, 2008: Official Canvass" (PDF) . Secretary of State of California . 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-04-14 .^ "Official Canvass: State Assemblymember 51st Assembly District Special Primary Election, September 1, 2009" (PDF) . California Secretary of State . 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2009-09-10 .^ "Official Canvass: State Assemblymember 72nd Assembly District Special General Election, January 12, 2010" (PDF) . California Secretary of State . 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-01-17 .^ "Official Canvass: State Assemblymember 43rd Assembly District Special General Election, June 8, 2010" (PDF) . California Secretary of State . 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-18 .^ "Official Canvass: State Assemblymember 4th Assembly District Special General Election, May 3, 2011" (PDF) . California Secretary of State . 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2011-05-17 .^ https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/special-elections/2019-ad1/certified-list.pdf [bare URL PDF ^ "General Election Canvass" (PDF) . California Secretary of State . Retrieved December 8, 2019 .^ "Special Primary 79th State Assembly Election" . San Diego Registrar of Voters . Retrieved April 6, 2021 .^ "CERTIFIED LIST OF CANDIDATES for the Special Primary Election Fifty-Fourth State Assembly District, May 18, 2021" (PDF) . California Secretary of State.^ "Final Official Election Results - Assembly District 54" . California Secretary of State . Retrieved May 19, 2021 .^ "Special General Election (Post Election Update #2) - August 31, 2021" . Alameda County Elections .^ "State Assembly District 62 - Districtwide Results" . California Secretary of State .^ "Assembly District 80 Special Primary Election" . San Diego County Registrar of Voters .^ "Statewide Direct Primary Election" . San Diego County Registrar of Voters .
