The 1992 United States Senate election in California took place on November 3, 1992, at the same time as the special election to the United States Senate in California. Incumbent Democrat

Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as President of the Citizens for Global S ...

decided to retire. Democrat

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is a retired American politician, lobbyist, and former reporter who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United St ...

won the open seat. This election was noted as both of California's senators were elected for the first time. This is not a unique occurrence; it would happen again in Tennessee in 1994, Kansas in 1996, and Georgia in 2021. Fellow Democrat

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...

, California's senior senator, won the special election and was inaugurated in November 1992.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, U.S. Representative from Greenbrae * Charles Greene, perennial candidate * Mel Levine, U.S. Representative from

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Leo T. McCarthy Leo Tarcissus McCarthy (August 15, 1930 – February 5, 2007) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 43rd lieutenant governor of California from 1983 to 1995. Early life and education McCarthy, whose parents were both nati ...

, Lieutenant Governor of California and nominee for Senate in 1988

Results

In the primary election in June, Boxer defeated McCarthy and Levine with 43.6% of the vote.

Republican primary

Candidates

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...

Mayor of Palm Springs The mayor of Palm Springs, California is a largely ceremonial title, elected at-large, with no executive functions. The mayor is the chairman of the city council meetings. The legislative body is the five-member city council, which is voted into ...

and retired entertainer, best known as a member of the duo

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as rhythm and blues, R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. ...

* John M. Brown, resident of Stockton * Tom Campbell, U.S. Congressman from

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

Bruce Herschensohn Stanley Bruce Herschensohn (September 10, 1932 – November 30, 2020) was an American conservative political commentator, author, film director, and senior fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy in Malibu, California. H ...

, political commentator for

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

in Los Angeles and candidate for Senate in 1986 * Alexander Swift Justice, candidate for U.S. Representative in 1990 * John W. Spring, independent candidate for Senate in 1986 * Isaac Park Yonker, candidate for U.S. Representative in 1990 from Mariposa

Results

Peace and Freedom primary

Candidates

*Genevieve Torres *Shirley Lee

Results

General election

Campaign

The general election between Boxer and Herschensohn was very close. At the eleventh hour, controversy emerged that the Republican nominee attended a strip club, which some Republican operatives later blamed for Herschensohn's loss. Four days before

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ...

polls showed Herschensohn had narrowed a double digit deficit, trailing by 3 points.

Political operative Political campaign staff are the group of people who formulate and implement the strategy of a political campaign. Campaign staffs are generally composed both of unpaid volunteers and paid employees of either the campaign itself or a related po ...

Bob Mulholland Bob Mulholland is a political operative in the California Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee for California. Early life Son of a World War II veteran, Mulholland fought in the Vietnam War, where he served in the ...

disrupted a campaign appearance with a large poster advertising a

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

shouting "Should the voters of California elect someone who frequently travels the strip joints of Hollywood?" Herschensohn admitted he had visited a strip club once, with his girlfriend and another couple. With press coverage of the story, Herschensohn spent the waning days of the campaign denying related allegations. When the votes were cast and counted, Boxer won the election by five points. ''The authors were LA Times staff writers''. Although Republicans have blamed the defeat on the underhanded tactics of the Boxer campaign, evidence of the connection between Mulholland's outburst and the campaign never surfaced.

Results

The election was very close. Boxer was declared the winner by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

at 1:22 A.M. Pacific Coast Time.

By county

Final results from the

Secretary of State of California 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 officeho ...

References

External links

* JoinCaliforni
1992 General Election
{{1992 United States elections

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Peace and Freedom primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Campaign

Results

By county

See also

References

External links