# 2008 California State Senate election

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vte :
The 2008 California State Senate elections took place on November 4, 2008. Voters in California's odd-numbered State Senate districts, a total of 20, voted for their state senators. No seats changed parties and the Democratic Party maintained its 25-seat majority, while the Republican Party held 15 seats. Other elections also took place in California on November 4.
Only a single State Senate district, the 19th, was considered truly competitive by political analysts.

## Overview

California State Senate elections, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Votes | Percentage | Seats up | Seats not up | Total seats | +/– |
| | Democratic | 3,786,204 | 55.06% | 11 | 14 | 25 | 0 |
| | Republican | 2,837,361 | 41.27% | 9 | 6 | 15 | 0 |
| | Independent | 131,248 | 1.91% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Libertarian | 94,132 | 1.37% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Peace and Freedom | 26,996 | 0.39% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 6,875,941 | 100.00% | 20 | 20 | 40 | — |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | 72.60% | 72.60% | | | | |
| 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2007–2008 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate | 2009–2010 State Senate |
| Color Key:   = Democratic   = Republican Pre-election Democratic: 25 Republican: 15 Total: 40 Contested: 20 Democratic uncontested: 14 Republican uncontested: 6 Total: 40 Post-election Democratic: 25 Republican: 15 Total: 40 |||||||||||||||||||||

## Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Stateline | Safe D | October 15, 2008 |

## Results

The following candidates are the official results from the California Secretary of State.

### District 1

California's 1st State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dave Cox (incumbent) | 267,426 | 62.27 |
| | Democratic | Anselmo Chavez | 162,044 | 37.73 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 429,470 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 75.31 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 3

California's 3rd State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Mark Leno | 326,755 | 80.21 |
| | Republican | Sashi McEntee | 80,617 | 19.79 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 407,372 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 78.08 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 5

California's 5th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Lois Wolk | 207,108 | 64.54 |
| | Republican | Greg Aghazarian | 113,778 | 35.46 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 320,886 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 73.54 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 7

California's 7th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Mark DeSaulnier | 256,311 | 66.54 |
| | Republican | Christian Amsberry | 128,878 | 33.46 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 385,189 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 78.22 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 9

California's 9th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Loni Hancock | 272,225 | 77.22 |
| | Republican | Claudia Bermudez | 53,299 | 15.12 |
| | Peace and Freedom | Marsha Feinland | 26,996 | 7.66 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 352,520 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 70.50 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 11

California's 11th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joe Simitian (incumbent) | 272,154 | 74.82 |
| | Republican | Blair Nathan | 91,592 | 25.18 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 363,746 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 76.37 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 13

California's 13th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Elaine Alquist (incumbent) | 179,855 | 70.94 |
| | Republican | Shane Connolly | 57,033 | 22.49 |
| | Libertarian | John Webster | 16,659 | 6.57 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 253,547 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 75.24 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 15

California's 15th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Abel Maldonado (incumbent) | 222,617 | 62.91 |
| | Independent | Jim Fitzgerald | 131,229 | 37.09 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 353,846 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 74.71 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 17

California's 17th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | George Runner (incumbent) | 182,295 | 54.85 |
| | Democratic | Bruce McFarland | 150,060 | 45.15 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 332,355 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 70.90 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 19

California's 19th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tony Strickland | 207,976 | 50.10 |
| | Democratic | Hannah-Beth Jackson | 207,119 | 49.90 |
| | Independent | Peter Diederich (write-in) | 14 | 0.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 415,109 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 78.94 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 21

California's 21st State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Carol Liu | 204,737 | 66.88 |
| | Republican | Teddy Choi | 77,525 | 25.33 |
| | Libertarian | Steve Myers | 23,842 | 7.79 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 306,104 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 69.81 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 23

California's 23rd State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Fran Pavley | 238,172 | 67.40 |
| | Republican | Rick Montaine | 96,274 | 27.25 |
| | Libertarian | Colin Goldman | 18,906 | 5.35 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 353,352 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 70.91 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 25

California's 25th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Roderick Wright | 179,654 | 71.90 |
| | Republican | Lydia Gutierrez | 70,199 | 28.10 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 249,853 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 66.73 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 27

California's 27th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Alan Lowenthal (incumbent) | 171,668 | 67.34 |
| | Republican | Allen Wood | 83,268 | 32.66 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 254,936 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 67.36 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 29

California's 29th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Bob Huff | 178,155 | 54.37 |
| | Democratic | Joseph Lyons | 127,536 | 38.92 |
| | Libertarian | Jill Stone | 21,983 | 6.71 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 327,674 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 69.66 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 31

California's 31st State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Robert Dutton (incumbent) | 186,191 | 58.70 |
| | Democratic | Ameenah Fuller | 130,973 | 41.29 |
| | Independent | Denise Sternberg (write-in) | 5 | 0.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 317,169 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 70.43 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 33

California's 33rd State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mimi Walters | 219,068 | 58.11 |
| | Democratic | Gary Pritchard | 157,945 | 41.89 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 377,013 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 69.46 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 35

California's 35th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tom Harman (incumbent) | 222,149 | 58.55 |
| | Democratic | Ginny Meyer | 157,271 | 41.45 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 379,420 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 67.73 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 37

California's 37th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | John Benoit | 190,415 | 54.79 |
| | Democratic | Arthur Guerrero | 157,142 | 45.21 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 347,557 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 72.48 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 39

California's 39th State Senate district election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Christine Kehoe (incumbent) | 227,475 | 65.21 |
| | Republican | Jeff Perwin | 108,606 | 31.13 |
| | Libertarian | Jesse Thomas | 12,742 | 3.65 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 348,823 | 100.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 73.39 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |