California state legislative special elections, 2019

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2020 →
← 2018
2019 badge.png
2019 State Legislative
Special Elections
Special Elections Information
Breakdown • Historical data • Elections by date
Special elections by state
Alabama • Arkansas • California • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Iowa • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New York • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • Tennessee • Texas • Virginia • Washington • Wisconsin
Other election coverage
State filing deadlines
State legislative elections
State executive elections
State judicial elections
Ballot measures

In 2019, three special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the California State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

Assembly special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in California

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the California State Legislature, the governor must call for a special election. The governor must call the election within 14 calendar days of the vacancy. No special election shall be held if the vacancy occurs after the nominating deadline has passed in the final year of the term of office.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: California Code, 1773 and California Cons. Art. IV, § 2


About the legislature

The California State Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

California State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 26 29
     Republican Party 14 11
Total 40 40
California State Assembly
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 55 60
     Republican Party 25 20
Total 80 80

Special elections

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

June 4, 2019

November 5, 2019

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2019 special elections

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 21 due to a retirement
  • 6 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 2 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 39 36
     Republican Party 38 40
     Independent 0 1
Total 77 77

Flipped seats

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from R to I


Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate survey

Candidate Connection Logo - stacked.png

Ballotpedia invites candidates to participate in its annual survey.
Click here to fill out the survey.

The following state legislative candidates responded to Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click candidate names to read their answers.

California State Assembly District 1

California State Senate District 1

State profile

See also: California and California elections, 2019
USA California location map.svg

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

Congressional delegation

State executives

  • Democrats held 11 and Republicans held one of California's 22 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
  • California's governor was Democrat Gavin Newsom.

State legislature

California Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty years with Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor R R R R R R R D D D D D R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Assembly D D D S R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

California quick stats
  • Became a state in 1850
  • 31st state admitted to the United States
  • As of 2018, California was the most populous state in the country.
  • Members of the California State Senate: 40
  • Members of the California State Assembly: 80
  • U.S. senators: 2
  • U.S. representatives: 53
More California coverage on Ballotpedia:


Demographic data for California
 CaliforniaU.S.
Total population:38,993,940316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):155,7793,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:61.8%73.6%
Black/African American:5.9%12.6%
Asian:13.7%5.1%
Native American:0.7%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.4%0.2%
Two or more:4.5%3%
Hispanic/Latino:38.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:81.8%86.7%
College graduation rate:31.4%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$61,818$53,889
Persons below poverty level:18.2%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ California Legislative Information, "California Code," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statute, 1773-California Government Code)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S. News, "Governor Sets Special Elections for 2 Vacant Senate Seats," January 15, 2019
  3. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Election Calendar," accessed January 17, 2019
  4. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Election Calendar," accessed January 17, 2019
  5. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Election Calendar," accessed June 20, 2019
  6. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Notice to candidates," accessed July 8, 2019
v • e
State legislatures
Legislatures
Alabama (H, S) · Alaska (H, S) · Arizona (H, S) · Arkansas (H, S) · California (A, S) · Colorado (H, S) · Connecticut (H, S) · Delaware (H, S) · Florida (H, S) · Georgia (H, S) · Hawaii (H, S) · Idaho (H, S) · Illinois (H, S) · Indiana (H, S) · Iowa (H, S) · Kansas (H, S) · Kentucky (H, S) · Louisiana (H, S) · Maine (H, S) · Maryland (H, S) · Massachusetts (H, S) · Michigan (H, S) · Minnesota (H, S) · Mississippi (H, S) · Missouri (H, S) · Montana (H, S) · Nebraska · Nevada (A, S) · New Hampshire (H, S) · New Jersey (GA, S) · New Mexico (H, S) · New York (A, S) · North Carolina (H, S) · North Dakota (H, S) · Ohio (H, S) · Oklahoma (H, S) · Oregon (H, S) · Pennsylvania (H, S) · Rhode Island (H, S) · South Carolina (H, S) · South Dakota (H, S) · Tennessee (H, S) · Texas (H, S) · Utah (H, S) · Vermont (H, S) · Virginia (H, S) · Washington (H, S) · West Virginia (H, S) · Wisconsin (A, S) · Wyoming (H, S)
SLP badge.png
2025
2024
2023
Historical elections
2022 •  2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000
Features of
state legislatures
State senates
State houses
Leadership positions
v • e
Ballotpedia
About
Editorial Content
Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Frank Festa • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Alexis Thacker • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox
Flag of California
v • e
State of California
Sacramento (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=California_state_legislative_special_elections,_2019&oldid=7879047"