1994 United States Senate election in California County results Feinstein: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Huffington: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
The1994 United States Senate election in California was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic U.S. SenatorDianne Feinstein won re-election to her first full term. By a margin of 1.9%, this election was the closest race of the1994 Senate election cycle. This election was the first time ever that an incumbent Democratic Senator from California was re-elected or won re-election to this seat.
[ edit ] American Independent Party [ edit ] American Independent primary[ 2] Party Candidate Votes % American Independent Paul Meeuwenberg 13,596 100.00 Total votes 13,596 100.00
While there was no primary election for the Green Party, Barbara Blong got the nomination of the party and represented them in the general election.
After one term in the House representingSanta Barbara andSan Luis Obispo counties, Huffington spent $8 million by the end of August and a total of $28 million during the entire campaign. He became wealthy off oil and gas. The race saw personal attacks on Huffington's wife,Arianna Huffington , who was very involved in the race (the media dubbed her the "Sir Edmund Hillary of social climbing," according toThe Almanac of American Politics
Huffington was called a hypocrite for supportingProposition 187 and then breaking the law for employing illegal aliens, a story which came out in the race's final days.[ 4] Chris Cillizza ofThe Washington Post [ 5]
On election day it was a very close race, but Feinstein won Los Angeles County, which may have pulled her ahead. Her sizable win in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area may also be credited to her slim statewide victory. A large number of absentee ballots left the results in doubt for over two weeks. On November 18, Senator Feinstein declared victory. At that time, she was ahead by 147,404 votes, with only 156,210 remaining uncounted ballots.[ 6] [ 6] [ 7]
1994 United States Senate election in California[ 8] [ 9] Party Candidate Votes % Democratic Dianne Feinstein (incumbent)3,979,152 46.74% Republican Michael Huffington 3,817,025 44.83% Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Cervantes Barron 255,301 3.00% Libertarian Richard Benjamin Boddie 179,100 2.10% American Independent Paul Meeuwenberg 142,771 1.68% Green Barbara Blong 140,567 1.65% Write-in 173 <0.01% Invalid or blank votes 386,547 4.34%[ a] Majority 162,127 1.90% Total votes 8,514,089 100.00% Turnout 44.94%[ b] Democratic hold
Final results from theSecretary of State .[ 8]
County Feinstein Votes Huffington Votes Barron Votes Boddie Votes Others Votes San Francisco 79.16% 185,543 15.39% 36,083 1.90% 4,452 1.05% 2,472 2.50% 5,854 Marin 70.86% 74,664 24.42% 25,733 1.31% 1,380 1.39% 1,462 2.02% 2,125 Alameda 68.34% 271,456 25.21% 100,120 2.35% 9,323 1.45% 5,778 2.65% 10,539 San Mateo 64.24% 136,686 29.94% 63,702 2.05% 4,362 1.50% 3,187 2.28% 4,850 Contra Costa 57.94% 170,256 36.02% 105,854 2.06% 6,056 1.51% 4,437 2.47% 7,268 Sonoma 57.53% 91,164 34.04% 53,938 2.94% 4,653 2.01% 3,178 3.48% 5,519 Santa Cruz 57.07% 52,056 32.31% 29,466 3.96% 3,613 2.49% 2,267 4.17% 3,807 Santa Clara 55.79% 245,232 35.93% 157,922 2.96% 13,029 2.14% 9,403 3.18% 13,983 Yolo 54.87% 26,793 36.56% 17,851 3.18% 1,553 1.86% 906 3.54% 1,729 Los Angeles 51.53% 1,046,026 40.38% 819,594 3.35% 67,993 1.97% 39,952 2.78% 56,332 Solano 51.01% 49,920 41.03% 40,158 2.90% 2,834 1.68% 1,645 3.38% 3,312 Napa 50.73% 21,340 41.33% 17,388 2.33% 982 1.82% 766 3.78% 1,592 Mendocino 50.27% 15,008 39.90% 11,912 3.20% 955 2.72% 812 3.92% 1,169 Sacramento 47.85% 168,073 43.88% 154,128 2.85% 9,994 1.84% 6,446 3.58% 12,584 Santa Barbara 47.16% 60,811 43.29% 55,825 2.84% 3,664 2.29% 2,956 4.41% 5,686 Alpine 46.72% 313 42.09% 282 4.93% 33 2.24% 15 4.03% 27 Monterey 46.52% 42,246 43.94% 39,905 4.20% 3,814 1.55% 1,411 3.79% 3,439 Humboldt 46.04% 21,817 43.77% 20,742 2.54% 1,202 2.31% 1,093 5.35% 2,534 Lake 44.76% 8,675 46.66% 9,043 2.32% 449 2.33% 451 3.94% 763 San Benito 40.89% 4,735 47.28% 5,476 5.32% 616 2.13% 247 4.38% 507 San Joaquin 39.89% 50,218 52.00% 65,466 2.88% 3,622 1.55% 1,954 3.69% 4,646 Fresno 39.70% 69,892 52.73% 92,818 3.33% 5,866 1.38% 2,426 2.86% 5,033 Tuolumne 39.54% 7,693 52.26% 10,169 2.46% 479 2.11% 410 3.63% 706 Merced 39.02% 15,092 52.67% 20,372 3.44% 1,329 1.59% 616 3.29% 1,272 Stanislaus 38.93% 38,414 51.91% 51,224 3.21% 3,169 1.68% 1,658 4.27% 4,217 Ventura 38.57% 82,472 50.98% 108,993 3.59% 7,671 2.70% 5,773 4.16% 8,891 San Luis Obispo 38.36% 32,777 51.83% 44,285 2.74% 2,345 2.49% 2,127 4.57% 3,905 Imperial 38.33% 9,086 49.46% 11,724 7.32% 1,735 1.38% 328 3.51% 832 Amador 38.25% 4,950 53.32% 6,900 1.94% 251 2.23% 288 4.26% 551 San Diego 37.82% 279,249 53.17% 392,529 3.08% 22,745 2.48% 18,314 3.45% 25,441 Nevada 37.37% 13,987 53.64% 20,076 2.06% 771 2.73% 1,023 4.19% 1,570 Placer 36.93% 27,934 54.28% 41,058 2.33% 1,759 2.20% 1,666 4.27% 3,231 El Dorado 36.77% 19,888 54.37% 29,402 2.05% 1,109 2.46% 1,331 4.35% 2,352 Plumas 36.53% 3,082 54.03% 4,559 2.71% 229 2.61% 220 4.12% 348 Mono 35.98% 1,263 53.25% 1,869 2.42% 85 2.48% 87 5.87% 206 Mariposa 35.53% 2,520 55.20% 3,915 2.23% 158 2.26% 160 4.78% 339 Calaveras 35.17% 5,467 54.30% 8,441 2.32% 360 2.90% 450 5.31% 826 Siskiyou 34.58% 6,256 55.50% 10,040 2.92% 529 2.59% 468 4.41% 798 Del Norte 34.51% 2,553 56.16% 4,154 2.16% 160 2.22% 164 4.95% 366 Butte 34.45% 23,317 57.03% 38,600 2.64% 1,789 2.20% 1,492 3.68% 2,490 Sierra 34.25% 548 54.31% 869 3.06% 49 3.94% 63 4.44% 71 Kings 33.98% 7,592 56.96% 12,725 3.79% 846 1.45% 323 3.82% 854 Riverside 33.95% 115,333 56.11% 190,615 3.41% 11,582 2.58% 8,755 3.96% 13,438 San Bernardino 33.34% 114,027 55.95% 191,343 3.73% 12,752 2.89% 9,876 4.09% 13,986 Madera 32.56% 8,613 59.26% 15,675 2.84% 750 1.71% 452 3.63% 960 Lassen 32.44% 2,639 56.51% 4,597 2.83% 230 2.79% 227 5.43% 442 Orange 31.88% 239,010 58.87% 441,398 2.71% 20,308 2.92% 21,901 3.62% 27,175 Trinity 31.87% 1,703 54.53% 2,914 3.71% 198 3.89% 208 6.01% 321 Tulare 31.45% 24,244 59.77% 46,074 3.72% 2,871 1.76% 1,359 3.29% 2,535 Yuba 29.70% 4,158 59.75% 8,365 3.06% 429 2.44% 341 5.05% 707 Colusa 29.34% 1,449 63.29% 3,126 2.77% 137 1.48% 73 3.12% 154 Tehama 27.94% 5,142 61.55% 11,329 2.84% 522 2.67% 492 5.00% 921 Shasta 27.83% 15,077 62.99% 34,129 2.51% 1,362 2.21% 1,200 4.46% 2,417 Sutter 27.23% 5,958 65.09% 14,242 2.55% 559 1.63% 357 3.50% 766 Kern 26.63% 39,987 63.61% 95,504 3.43% 5,153 2.15% 3,229 4.17% 6,259 Inyo 25.96% 1,841 64.95% 4,606 2.51% 178 2.14% 152 4.44% 315 Modoc 24.77% 951 63.72% 2,447 2.55% 98 3.23% 124 5.73% 220 Glenn 24.68% 1,956 67.51% 5,351 2.01% 159 1.63% 129 4.18% 331
Shift by county Trend by county Republican — >15%
Republican — +12.5−15%
Republican — +10−12.5%
Republican — +7.5−10%
Republican — +5−7.5%
Republican — +2.5−5%
Republican — +0−2.5%
Democratic — +0−2.5%
Democratic — +2.5−5%
Democratic — +5−7.5%
Democratic — +7.5-10%
Democratic — +10−12.5%
^ "Votes not cast" as a percentage of votes cast anywhere statewide, which numbered 8,900,593.[ 8] ^ As a percentage of the voting eligible population (VEP), estimated at 18.946 million.[ 8] ^a b c d e f g h "Defying the Odds?" The Los Angeles Times . RetrievedMay 26, 2023 .^a b c d e "1996 California Voter Information: Statement" .vote96.sos.ca.gov . Archived fromthe original on December 22, 2008. RetrievedJanuary 15, 2022 .^ "Citizen Kate: an Election Race Against Conventional Wisdom" The Los Angeles Times . RetrievedMay 26, 2023 .^ B. Drummond Ayres Jr. (October 27, 1994)."THE 1994 CAMPAIGN: CALIFORNIA; Huffington Admits Hiring Illegal Alien" .The New York Times . ^ Chris Cillizza (July 1, 2010)."The 10 nastiest Senate races" . The Washington Post The Fix blog. Archived fromthe original on September 29, 2012.^a b B. Drummond Ayres Jr. (November 19, 1994)."THE NEW CONGRESS: CALIFORNIA; Feinstein Claims Victory in Senate Race" .The New York Times . ^ B. Drummond Ayres Jr. (December 26, 1994)."Nov. 8 Is Long Gone, but the California Election Lingers On, and On and On" .The New York Times . ^a b c d Jones, Bill (December 16, 1994)."STATEMENT OF VOTE: November 8, 1994, General Election" (PDF) . Office of theCalifornia Secretary of State . p. xii,37. RetrievedNovember 17, 2020 .^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives ."STATISTICS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 8, 1994" (PDF) . United States House of Representatives. p. 3,6. RetrievedNovember 16, 2020 .
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