California's 10th congressional district special election, 2009 was held on November 3, 2009, to fill the vacancy caused in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's
10th congressional district by the resignation of
Ellen Tauscher
Ellen O'Kane Tauscher (November 15, 1951 – April 29, 2019) was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012 ...
. Democratic Party candidate
John Garamendi won against Republican opponent David Harmer.
Background and procedures for election
On May 5, 2009,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
nominated
Democratic Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
*Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
*House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
*Legislator, someon ...
Ellen Tauscher for the position of
. She was confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
on June 26 and subsequently resigned from her congressional seat.
Following her resignation,
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'' ...
called a
special election. 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 ...
among candidates of all political parties took place on September 1, 2009. If a candidates received a majority of the vote in the primary, that candidate would wins the seat without an additional election. As that didn't occur, the general election took place on November 3, 2009 between the candidates with the most votes for each party.
Candidates
The following individuals appeared in the certified list of candidates and the certified list of
write-in candidates published by the
Secretary of State of California, and were thus eligible to receive votes in the special primary election.
American Independent
*Jerome "Jerry" Denham, an insurance agent
Democratic
*Tiffany René Estrella Attwood, a write-in candidate
*
Joan Buchanan, the
State Assemblymember from the
15th district
*
Mark DeSaulnier
Mark James DeSaulnier ( ; born March 31, 1952) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 11th congressional district since 2015. The district includes most of Contra Costa County, a suburban county in ...
, the
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 49 U ...
from the
7th district who was endorsed by Tauscher as her successor
*
John Garamendi, the
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
*
Adriel Hampton, a
Government 2.0
E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new ...
blogger and investigator for the San Francisco City Attorney
*
Anthony Woods
Anthony Christopher Woods (born July 20, 1980) is an American politician serving as the secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs since January 2023. He was a U.S. Army officer deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Woods was disc ...
, an Iraq War Veteran and economic policy analyst
Green
*Jeremy Cloward, a community college instructor
Peace and Freedom
*Mary C. McIlroy
Republican
*Chris Bunch, a small business owner
*Gary W. Clift, a retired police officer
*David Harmer, an independent businessman
* Mark Loos, a small business owner
*David Peterson, an accountability system owner
*John Toth, a physician
Polling
General election
Results
Primary
Since no candidate won a majority in the September 1, 2009, open primary, the candidates with the top votes for each party advanced to the special general election. Garamendi won more votes than any other Democrat and Harmer more than any Republican. Denham, Cloward, and McIlroy were the only candidates from their parties so they advanced the general election by default.
General
References
{{California elections
California 2009 10
California 2009 10
2009 10 Special
California 10 Special
United States House of Representatives 10 Special
United States House of Representatives 2009 10