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In the fall of 2005, aspecial election was held inCalifornia's 48th congressional district to choose aUnited States representative to replaceRepublicanChristopher Cox, who resigned effective August 2, 2005, to becomeChairman of theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A Specialprimary election was held on October 4. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoffgeneral election took place on December 6, 2005. The top vote getter from each party moved to the runoff contest, which only required a candidate to receive a plurality of the vote.Republican candidateJohn Campbell ultimately won the runoff with only 44% of the vote, as there were three major candidates, rather than the usual two.
The district is located inOrange County insouthern California, and includes the cities ofAliso Viejo,Dana Point,Irvine,Laguna Beach,Laguna Hills,Laguna Niguel,Laguna WoodsLake Forest (formerly known asEl Toro),Tustin, and parts ofNewport Beach,San Juan Capistrano, andSanta Ana.
Ten Republicans qualified for the special primary election.California State SenatorJohn Campbell won the Republican nomination by coming in first in the special primary election. FormerState AssemblywomanMarilyn Brewer came in second. Other Republican candidates included dentist David R. Crouch, formerTustincouncilman John Kelly, attorney Scott MacCabe, attorney Guy E. Mailly, real estate agent Masha A. Morris, businessman Marshall Samuel Sanders, businessman Edward A. Suppe, and physician Don A. Udall.
FourDemocrats qualified for the special primary election. Attorney Steve Young,UCI professor John Graham (who ran for the seat in three previous elections against Chris Cox: 2000, 2002 and 2004), teacher Bea Foster, and marketing consultant Tom Pallow.
Real estate agent Bruce D. Cohen of theLibertarian Party and teacher Béa Tiritilli of theGreen Party were both unopposed for the nominations of their respective parties.Minuteman Project founderJim Gilchrist was eventually chosen for theAmerican Independent Party nomination. Former Republican CongressmanBob Dornan also briefly tried to capture the nomination of the American Independent Party, but was rebuffed by the party's leaders. Dornan would later endorse Gilchrist.
Campbell and Brewer were generally considered the frontrunners, with Gilchrist viewed as a possible spoiler against Campbell in the special primary election. Campbell had the backing of many major Republican officeholders, including GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger, and closely identified with the policies of PresidentGeorge W. Bush. Brewer was considered the more moderate alternative, in favor ofabortion andstem cell research and endorsed by SenatorJohn McCain. A sore point for some conservatives in the district was Campbell's position onillegal immigration. Gilchrist ran as a third-party candidate primarily on his support for stronger immigration laws.
The district is overwhelmingly conservative, with Republicans enjoying a 2 to 1 voter registration advantage (Christopher Cox won his last bid for re-election with 65% of the vote). Most pundits therefore viewed the contest as which Republican candidate would get the honor of filling the vacant seat. Because John Campbell obtained the majority of the endorsements within the Republican establishment, and was able to raise over $2,000,000, it quickly became apparent that Campbell would be destined to win.
Campbell's strategy was to ensure that Jim Gilchrist would not "steal" too many votes that would have otherwise gone to him had Gilchrist not run. Gilchrist for his part, spent $500,000 to ensure that the topic of illegal immigration is prominent in the race. Democratic attorney Steve Young spent a large amount of his own money in the hope that Gilchrist and Campbell will split the conservative vote to a point which would allow him to edge both of them. Although Gilchrist spent more than twice the amount Young spent, Young edged Gilchrist for second place by two percentage points in the December 6 general election.
Campbell's confidence in his victory was quite evident. In September, he skipped a candidate forum, and in November he attended a fundraiser for himself inWashington D.C. in whichDick Cheney was the guest of honor. He also bought a December 7 early morning airplane ticket to Washington days before the December 6 runoff.
On October 4, Republican John Campbell garnered 45.5 percent of the vote, 4.5 percent short of the majority necessary to avoid a runoff race. He faced the leading vote getter from the four other parties participating: American Independent Jim Gilchrist, Democrat Steve Young, Green Béa Tiritilli, and Libertarian Bruce Cohen in a December 6 runoff.
| California's 48th congressional district special primary, 2005[1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | John Campbell | 41,420 | 45.2 | |
| Republican | Marilyn Brewer | 15,595 | 17.0 | |
| American Independent | Jim Gilchrist | 13,423 | 14.6 | |
| Democratic | Steve Young | 7,941 | 8.7 | |
| Democratic | John Graham | 3,667 | 4.0 | |
| Democratic | Bea Foster | 2,944 | 3.2 | |
| Republican | Don Udall | 1,417 | 1.5 | |
| Republican | John Kelly | 1,070 | 1.2 | |
| Green | Béa Tiritilli | 790 | 0.9 | |
| Libertarian | Bruce Cohen | 731 | 0.8 | |
| Republican | David Crouch | 523 | 0.6 | |
| Republican | Scott MacCabe | 397 | 0.4 | |
| Republican | Marsha Morris | 351 | 0.4 | |
| Democratic | Tom Pallow | 307 | 0.3 | |
| Republican | Guy Mailly | 153 | 0.2 | |
| Republican | Marshall Samuel Sanders | 110 | 0.1 | |
| Republican | Edward Suppe | 101 | 0.1 | |
| Republican | Delecia Holt (write-in) | 11 | 0.1 | |
| Republican | Steven Wesley Blake (write-in) | 2 | 0.0 | |
| Invalid ballots | 758 | 0.8 | ||
| Totals | 91,711 | 100.0 | ||
| Voter turnout | 22.8 | |||
The result of the December 6 general election are notable in that Campbell's plurality actually decreased by more than a point, and the combined Democratic total nearly doubled in the general election, with Gilchrist additionally gaining ten points. This would seem to indicate that a large majority of the voters who voted for a Republican candidate other than Campbell in the October 4 special primary election, did not rally behind Campbell in the special general election.
| California's 48th congressional district special election, 2005[2] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | John Campbell | 46,184 | 44.4 | |
| Democratic | Steve Young | 28,853 | 27.8 | |
| American Independent | Jim Gilchrist | 26,507 | 25.5 | |
| Green | Béa Tiritilli | 1,430 | 1.4 | |
| Libertarian | Bruce Cohen | 974 | 0.9 | |
| Invalid ballots | 457 | 0.4 | ||
| Totals | 104,405 | 100.0 | ||
| Voter turnout | 25.7 | |||
Campbell's victory caused a vacancy in the 35th State Senate district. A special primary election was scheduled for April 11, 2006. Two Republicans:Assemblymember and formerHuntington Beach, California councilmemberTom Harman, andDana Point, California councilmemberDiane Harkey raised $330,000 and $800,000 respectively for the race (Harkey spent $620,000 of her own money).[3][4] The Democratic candidate, Larry Caballero, spent virtually nothing. In a race that was largely centered on the issue of illegal immigration,[5] Harman edged Harkey by 236 votes, out of over 98,000 votes cast.[6] Harkey sought a recount of the official results, at a cost of $14,000 (which she had to pay for). The recount did not change the outcome, with Harman's lead shrinking to 225 votes.[7] Harman faced Caballero in a runoff on June 6 and won the race to succeed Campbell by a 2–1 margin.[8]
Harman's election to the State Senate left a vacancy in the State Assembly, which stayed vacant until December 4, 2006, whenJim Silva was sworn in after winning the regularly scheduled election for the seat on November 7.
