The 2012 United States Senate election in California took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the
2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the
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 ...
and
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
and various state and local elections.
The primary election on June 5 took place under California's new blanket primary law, where all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters voted for any candidate listed, or write-in any other candidate. The top two finishers—regardless of party—advanced to the general election in November, even if a candidate managed to receive a majority of the votes cast in the June primary. In the primary, less than 15% of the total 2010 census population voted. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein announced her intention to run for a fourth full term in April 2011 and finished first in the blanket primary with 49.5% of the vote. The second-place finisher was Republican candidate and autism activist Elizabeth Emken, who won 12.7% of the vote.
Feinstein ultimately defeated Emken in the general election on November 6, winning 62.5% of the vote to Emken's 37.5%. Feinstein's total of 7.86 million popular votes was the most ever received by a candidate for U.S. Senate in American history until
Adam Schiff won the same seat with over 9 million votes in
2024. For a full decade, Emken was the only Republican candidate to have advanced to a general U.S. Senate election in California, as only Democratic candidates advanced to the general election in
2016 and
2018; however, this streak was broken 10 years later in
2022.
Primary
Candidates
Democratic Party
*
Dianne Feinstein, incumbent U.S. senator
* Colleen Shea Fernald
* David Levitt, computer scientist and engineer
* Nak Shah, environmental health consultant
* Diane Stewart, businesswoman
* Mike Strimling, attorney and former U.S. Peace Corps legal adviser
Republican Party
* John Boruff, businessman
* Oscar Alejandro Braun, businessman and rancher
* Greg Conlon, businessman and
CPA
* Elizabeth Emken, candidate for the
11th congressional district in
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
[
]
* Rogelio Gloria, U.S. Naval Officer
* Dan Hughes, businessman
* Dennis Jackson
* Dirk Konopik, former congressional aide
[
* Donald Krampe
* Robert Lauten
* Al Ramirez, businessman
* Nachum Shifren, rabbi and state senate candidate in ]2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
* Orly Taitz, dentist, Birther movement activist and candidate for California Secretary of State in 2010
* Rick Williams, business attorney
Libertarian
* Gail Lightfoot, retired nurse
Peace and Freedom
* Kabiruddin Karim Ali, businessman
* Marsha Feinland, retired teacher
American Independent
* Don J. Grundmann, chiropractor
Despite Don J. Grundmann running, the American Independent Party gave their party endorsement to Republican Robert Lauten.
Polling
Results
Election contest
In July 2012, Taitz sued to block the certification of the primary election results, alleging "rampant election fraud", but her suit was denied.
General election
Fundraising
Top contributors
Top industries
Candidates
* Dianne Feinstein (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
* Elizabeth Emken (R), former Vice President of Autism Speaks
Debates
No debates were scheduled. Senator Feinstein decided to focus on her own campaign rather than debate her challenger.
Predictions
Polling
Results
By county
;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
* Butte
In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...
(largest city: Chico)
* Del Norte (largest community: Crescent City)
* Trinity (largest community: Weaverville)
By congressional district
Feinstein won 41 of the 53 congressional districts, including three held by Republicans.
See also
* 2012 United States Senate elections
* 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in California
References
External links
Elections
at Secretary of State of California
Campaign contributions
at OpenSecrets.org
Outside spending
at the Sunlight Foundation
Candidate issue positions
at On the Issues
Official campaign sites (Archived)
Elizabeth Emken for Senate
Dianne Feinstein for Senate
{{California elections
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
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 ...
U.S. Senate
Dianne Feinstein