A special election to determine the member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for

California's 5th congressional district California's 5th congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. The district is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley and central Sierra Nevada. The district includes all of Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mar ...

was held on April 7, 1987, with a runoff held two months later on June 2. Incumbent Representative

Sala Burton Sala Burton (née Galante; April 1, 1925 – February 1, 1987) was a Polish-born American politician who served as a United States Representative from California from 1983 until her death from colon cancer in Washington, D. C., in 1987. Early ...

, who herself was elected during a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

following the previous incumbent's death, died on February 1, 1987, from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. Her death triggered a special election, leading to multiple people running to finish her term. No candidate received a 50% election in the general, leading to a run-off which former

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento. With 43.5% of the state's registered voters as of 2018, the Democratic Party has the highest number of r ...

chair

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

won.

Candidates

Fourteen candidates ran for the special election.

Democratic Party

, former chairwoman of the

and daughter of former Baltimore mayor,

Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. (August 1, 1903 – August 23, 1987) was an American politician who served as the 39th mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented in the United States H ...

Harry Britt Harry Britt (June 8, 1938 – June 24, 2020) was an American political activist and politician in San Francisco. Britt was involved during the late-1960s in the civil rights movement when he was a Methodist minister in Chicago. He was first appoi ...

, LGBT rights advocate and former member of the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

* William Maher, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member * Doris M. Ward, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member *

Carol Ruth Silver Carol Ruth Silver (born October 1, 1938)Schultz, Debra L. and Blanche Wiesen Cook (2002). ''Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement''. NYU Press, is an American lawyer and civil rights activist. She was a Freedom Rider, arreste ...

, gun rights advocate and San Francisco Board of Supervisors member * Brian Lantz

Republican Party

* Harriet Ross * Kevin W. Wadsworth * Tom Spinosa,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran and San Francisco County Republican Party official * Mike Garza

Libertarian Party

* Sam Grove

Peace and Freedom Party

* Theodore Zurr

Independents

* Karen Edwards * Catherine Renee Sedwick

Special primaries

The special election primaries were held on April 7, 1987. Every candidate ran in a

nonpartisan blanket primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

. If a candidate won 50% of the vote, they would automatically fill in the vacant seat. If no candidate won 50% of the vote, a runoff would be triggered with the top candidates in each party advancing to the runoff.

Runoff election

The runoff election took place on June 2, 1987, with

gaining the majority of the vote, winning her the special election for Burton's seat.

References

{{Nancy Pelosi California 1987 05 California 1987 05 1987 05 Special California 05 Special United States House of Representatives 05 Special United States House of Representatives 1987 05 California's 5th congressional district special election California's 5th congressional district special election Nancy Pelosi