California's 12th congressional district special election, 2008 occurred on April 8, 2008.

California's 12th congressional district California's 12th congressional district is a congressional district in northern California. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2013. She has represente ...

was vacated following the death of Democrat Tom Lantos on February 11, 2008. The

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, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was called by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

to fill the vacancy for the remainder of Lantos's term ending on January 3, 2009. The special election took the form of an

open primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

. Another election would have taken place on June 3 had no candidate received a majority. Democrat

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Dis ...

won a majority of the votes in the open primary and therefore won the election.

Candidates

The following individuals appeared in the certified list of candidates and the certified list of

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

s published by the

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeh ...

, and were thus eligible to receive votes in the special primary election.

Green

*Barry Hermanson, an equity lawyer

Democratic

*Michelle T. McMurry, a health policy director *

, a former

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of ...

who was endorsed by Lantos as his successor

Libertarian

*Kevin Peterson, a write-in candidate

Republican

*Robert "Rock" Brickell-Viagra, a write-in candidate *Greg Conlon, a businessman and former member of the

California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition ...

, who favored deregulation. *Mike Moloney, a retired businessman who ran for the seat in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

Results

References

External links

Greg Conlon's campaign

Barry Hermanson's campaign

Michelle McMurry's campaign

Mike Moloney's campaign

Jackie Speier's campaign
{{California elections California 2008 12 California 2008 12 2008 12 Special California 12 Special United States House of Representatives 12 Special United States House of Representatives 2008 12