The California state special elections, 2009 were held on May 19, 2009 throughout the state of

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 ...

. The elections were authorized by the

State Legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

and

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'' ...

as a part of a budget signed into law on February 19, 2009. Voters voted on six ballot propositions, 1A through 1F, for the open 26th

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

district seat, and in a primary for the open 32nd congressional district seat. All of the propositions except 1F were defeated.

Background

In February 2009 the State Legislature narrowly passed the 2008–2009 state budget during a special session, months after it was due. As part of the plan to lower the state's annual deficits, the State Legislature ordered a special election with various budget reform ballot propositions.

Propositions

Proposition 1A

Proposition 1A was a constitutional amendment that would have increased the annual contributions to the state's

rainy day fund A rainy day or rainy day fund is a reserved amount of money to be used in times when regular income is disrupted or decreased in order for typical operations to continue. In the United States, the term is usually used to apply to the funds mainta ...

Proposition 1B

Proposition 1B would have secured additional funding for primary education, but only if Proposition 1A passed as well.

Proposition 1C

Proposition 1C was a constitutional amendment that would have made significant changes to the operation of the

State Lottery In the United States, lotteries are run by 48 jurisdictions: 45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lotteries are subject to the laws of and operated independently by each jurisdiction, and there is no ...

Proposition 1D

Proposition 1D would have authorized a one-time reallocation of tobacco tax revenue to help balance the state budget.

Proposition 1E

Proposition 1E would have authorized a one-time reallocation of income tax revenue to help balance the state budget.

Proposition 1F

Proposition 1F prohibited pay raises for members of the State Legislature, the Governor, and other state officials during deficit years.

Opinion polling

Field Poll: March 3, 2009

SurveyUSA Poll: March 11–12, 2009
(commissioned by

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains stud ...

KFSN-TV KFSN-TV (channel 30) is a television station in Fresno, California, United States, airing programming from the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network. It is Owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television ...

KGTV-TV KGTV (channel 10) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Air Way in the Riverview-Webster section of San Diego, and i ...

, and

KPIX-TV KPIX-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's CBS network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW ...

)
PPIC Poll: March 25, 2009

SurveyUSA Poll: April 20–21, 2009
(commissioned by

, and

)
Field Poll: April 29, 2009

26th State Senate district special election

A special election to fill the 26th district of the

was called by Governor Schwarzenegger on December 10, 2008 as a consequence of the resignation of former State Senator

Mark Ridley-Thomas Mark Ridley-Thomas is an American politician. He previously served three terms on the Los Angeles City Council from the 8th district from 1991 to 2002, and again for the 10th district from 2020 until his expulsion from the council in 2022. Ridle ...

following his election to the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...

. A special

primary election 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 ...

was held on March 24, 2009, and the special election was held on May 19, 2009.

Candidates

A total of eight candidates registered for the special election, but only three qualified for the special election:

Democratic

* Robert Cole, a member of the Los Angeles County Citizens' Economy and Efficiency Committee * Mike Davis, the State Assemblymember from the 48th district * Saundra Davis, a board member of the

Culver City Unified School District Culver City Unified School District, abbreviated CCUSD, is a school district located in Culver City, California that serves approximately 6,500 pupils in a variety of schools. The Culver City Unified School District primarily consists of five K ...

and a businesswoman * Mervin Leon Evans, an author and management consultant * Jonathan Friedman, a financial analyst * Curren D. Price, Jr., the State Assemblymember from the 51st district

Peace and Freedom

* Cindy Variela Henderson, a communications technician

Republican

* Nachum Shifren, an educator

Primary election

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 ...

election for the special election was held on March 24, 2009. Since no candidate won a majority, the candidates with the top votes for each party advanced to the special general election. Price won more votes than any other Democrat while Shifren and Henderson were the only candidates of their parties.

Special election

In the special runoff election, Democratic Curren Price won by a large margin, beating Republican Nachum Schifren and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Cindy Henderson.

32nd congressional district special primary election

A special election to fill the 32nd congressional district was called by Governor Schwarzenegger on March 10, 2009 as a consequence of the resignation of former Congresswoman

Hilda Solis Hilda Lucia Solis (; born October 20, 1957) is an American politician and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 1st district. Solis previously served as the 25th United States Secretary of Labor from 2009 to 2013, as par ...

following her appointment as

United States Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

. The special primary election was May 19, 2009 while the special election was held on July 14, 2009. The election was won by Democrat

Judy Chu Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. Chu is the first Chines ...

, who became the first Chinese American woman elected to serve in Congress.

Primary election

In the May 19 primary, Democrat Judy Chu led all candidates, but failed to gain enough to prevent a runoff general election. Betty Chu qualified as the Republican candidate for the runoff and Christopher Agrella qualified as the Libertarian.

Special election

In the special runoff election, Democratic Judy Chu won by a significant margin, beating Republican Betty Chu and Libertarian candidate Christopher Agrella.

References

{{United States elections, 2009