A special primary election to determine the member of the

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

for

California's 5th congressional district California's 5th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, U.S. congressional district in California. The district is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley and central Sierra Nevada. The district includes ...

was held on April 7, 1987, with a special general election held two months later on June 2. Incumbent Representative Sala Burton, who herself was elected during a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

following the death of her husband Phillip Burton, the previous incumbent, 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 ...

. Her death triggered a special election, leading to multiple people running to finish her term. No candidate received 50% in the primary, leading to a special general election won by 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, the state capital. With 46.59% of the state's registered voters as of February 2024, the Democratic ...

chair

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

Candidates

Fourteen candidates ran in the special primary.

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 41st List of mayors of Baltimore, mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Demo ...

Harry Britt Harry Britt (June 8, 1938 – June 24, 2020) was an American politician and gay rights activist. Born in Texas, he worked as a Methodist pastor in Chicago as a young man and later moved to San Francisco. There, he worked with Harvey Milk until Mi ...

, LGBT rights advocate and former member of the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors, legislative body within the government of San Francisco, government of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and polit ...

* William Maher, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member * Doris M. Ward, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member * Carol Ruth Silver, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veteran and San Francisco County Republican Party official * Mike Garza

Libertarian Party

* Sam Grove

Peace and Freedom Party

* Theodore Zuur

Independents

* Karen Edwards * Catherine Renee Sedwick

Special primary

The

nonpartisan blanket primary A nonpartisan primary, top-two primary, or jungle primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of political party. This distinguishes them from partisan primaries, w ...

was held on April 7, 1987. A candidate winning 50% of the vote would automatically fill the vacant seat. If no candidate won 50%, a special general election (essentially a runoff) would be triggered with the top candidates in each party advancing to it.

Special general election

The special general election took place on June 2, 1987, with

gaining a majority of the vote and winning Sala 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