1992 United States Senate election in California

none the other Senate election in California held in parallel 1992 United States Senate special election in California March 2026 September 2023 1992 United States Senate election in California California presidential no 1986 United States Senate election in California 1986 1998 United States Senate election in California 1998 1992 11 03 Senator Boxer (1).jpg Barbara Boxer Democratic Party (United States) 5,173,467 47.90% Bruce Herschensohn casting vote, 1986 (cropped).jpg Bruce Herschensohn Republican Party (United States) 4,644,182 43.00% 300px County results Boxer: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80%Herschensohn: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% U.S. Senator Alan Cranston Democratic Party (United States) Barbara Boxer Democratic Party (United States) 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 decided to retire. Democrat Barbara Boxer 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, California's senior senator, won the special election and was inaugurated in November 1992. Democratic primary Candidates Barbara Boxer, U.S. representative from Greenbrae Charles Greene, perennial candidate Mel Levine, U.S. representative from Santa Monica Leo T. McCarthy, 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.https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/03/us/the-1992-campaign-california-2-women-win-nomination-in-california-senate-races.html THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: California; 2 Women Win Nomination In California Senate Races Reinhold Robert 1992-06-03 The New York Times 2019-05-18 en-US 0362-4331 mdy-all 1992 Democratic Senate primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38072 Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race - Jun 02, 1992 Barbara Boxer Democratic Party (US) 1,339,126 43.58% Leo T. McCarthy Democratic Party (US) 943,229 30.70% Mel Levine Democratic Party (US) 667,359 21.72% Charles Greene Democratic Party (US) 122,954 4.00% 3,072,668 100.00% Republican primary Candidates Sonny Bono, mayor of Palm Springs and retired entertainer, best known as a member of Sonny & Cher John M. Brown, resident of StocktonPyle Amy 2000-03-05 Three Republicans Fight for Chance to Unseat Feinstein https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-05-me-5719-story.html 2026-08-11 Los Angeles Times en-US Tom Campbell, U.S. representative from Silicon Valley Bruce Herschensohn, political commentator for KABC-TV in Los Angeles and candidate for Senate in 1986 Alexander Swift Justice, Pasadena gem cutter and candidate for U.S. representative in 1990Ward Mike 1990-06-03 ELECTIONS : Spotlight on 3 Seats in Assembly : Politics: A crowded ballot awaits San Gabriel Valley voters, but most attention will focus on the three districts where no incumbents are running. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-03-ga-836-story.html 2026-08-11 Los Angeles Times en-US John W. Spring, independent candidate for Senate in 1986 Isaac Park Yonker, candidate for U.S. representative in 1990 from Mariposa Results 1992 Republican Senate primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38073 Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 02, 1992 Bruce Herschensohn Republican Party (US) 956,146 38.80% Tom Campbell Republican Party (US) 859,970 34.90% Sonny Bono Republican Party (US) 417,848 16.96% Isaac Park Yonker Republican Party (US) 94,623 3.84% Alexander Swift Justice Republican Party (US) 60,104 2.44% John W. Spring Republican Party (US) 54,941 2.23% John M. Brown Republican Party (US) 20,810 0.84% 2,464,442 100.00% Peace and Freedom primary Candidates Genevieve Torres Shirley Lee Results 1992 Peace and Freedom Senate primaryhttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=418352 Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - PFP Primary Race - Jun 02, 1992 Genevieve Torres Peace and Freedom Party (US) 5,492 60.34% Shirley Lee Peace and Freedom Party (US) 3,610 39.66% 9,102 100.00% General election Candidates Barbara Boxer, U.S. representative from Greenbrae (Democratic) June R. Genis (Libertarian) Bruce Herschensohn, political commentator for KABC-TV in Los Angeles and candidate for Senate in 1986 (Republican) Jerome N. McCready (American Independent) Genevieve Torres (Peace and Freedom) Campaign Initially, Herschensohn was given little chance in the election because of his relatively conservative views, support from the religious right, and the large lead of Democratic nominee Bill Clinton in the presidential campaign in the state. Herschensohn proposed cutting funding for nearly every federal agency except the Department of Defense, repealing the Endangered Species Act, banning abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mothers, replacing the progressive income tax with a flat tax, and eliminating federal emergency relief aid for riots and most natural disasters (despite the Los Angeles riots which had occurred in the spring).Reinhold Robert 1992-10-24 THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Senate Race; Republican Imperils Tide Of Democrats in California https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/24/us/1992-campaign-senate-race-republican-imperils-tide-democrats-california.html 2026-08-11 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 Herschensohn also opposed restrictions on international trade and proposed a strong international military presence, citing his views as "constitutionalist." Despite these views, which were generally considered out-of-step with the California electorate, Herschensohn won support with a media-friendly approach, which observers and voters, including women, described as "down to earth" and contrasted with the "overly shrill" Boxer. His years of experience on Los Angeles television had also made him familiar to voters. He also criticized Boxer for her involvement in the House banking scandal, having overdrawn 143 checks on public funds during her time as U.S. representative. In September, pollster Mervin Field gave Boxer a 22-point lead, but he found that her lead had halved to 11 points by October. No such narrowing was found in the presidential campaign nor the race for California's other Senate seat. Boxer attributed her campaign's issues to early, massive spending by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to criticize her record. By contrast, Boxer's advertisements avoided direct attacks on her opponent. At the eleventh hour, controversy emerged that the Republican nominee attended a strip club.http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992_general/statement_of_vote_general_1992.pdf 14 (24 in PDF) Statement of Vote General Election November 3, 1992 December 11, 2008 Eu March Fong March Fong Eu December 12, 1992 https://web.archive.org/web/20080730215019/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992_general/statement_of_vote_general_1992.pdf July 30, 2008 dead Four days before Election Day, polls showed Herschensohn had narrowed a double digit deficit, to come within by 3 percentage points. Political operative Bob Mulholland disrupted a Herschensohn campaign appearance with a large poster advertising a strip club 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.Dean E. Murphy Shuit, Douglas P. U.S. Senate Candidates Crisscross State for Votes Politics: Herschensohn reacts angrily to accusation that he went to strip joint, frequented adult newsstand. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-31-mn-718-story.html Los Angeles Times October 31, 1992 March 31, 2010 A clearly shaken Herschensohn, who has embraced the GOP "family values" platform, at first refused to comment on the accusations, calling them "a pretty desperate thing." But he later conceded that he once visited the Seventh Veil nude-dance club in Hollywood... The authors were LA Times staff writers. Although some Republicans later blamed Herschensohn's defeat on Mulholland and accused the Boxer campaign of dirty tricks, evidence of the connection between Mulholland's outburst and the Boxer campaign never surfaced.Arnold Steinberg Arnold Steinberg Beware the Trickster: Bob Mulholland oversees the recounting of the ballots in Florida http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment111700g.shtml National Review November 17, 2000 December 7, 2008 That vintage Mulholland maneuver made it all but impossible for Herschensohn to stay on-message during the campaign's crucial closing days. dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090104071050/http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment111700g.shtml January 4, 2009 John Fund John Fund Arnold's 'Harriet Miers Moment' - Has Gov. Schwarzenegger jumped the shark? http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110007637 John Fund on the Trail - WSJ.com The Wall Street Journal December 5, 2005 December 7, 2008 Robert Salladay Robert Salladay Governor Faces Revolt in GOP https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-07-me-arnold7-story.html Los Angeles Times A-1 December 7, 2005 December 9, 2008 Bob Mulholland, publicly accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn of visiting a Sunset Boulevard strip club. Herschensohn had been running as the traditional-values candidate.Amid the controversy, Herschensohn lost the Senate race to Democrat Barbara Boxer, and the GOP was outraged at what it called a "smear campaign." Kennedy suspended Mulholland, but he soon returned to the party. Results The election was very close. Boxer was declared the winner by the Associated Press at 1:22 A.M. Pacific Coast Time. 1992 U.S. Senate election in California Democratic Party (United States) Barbara Boxer 5,173,467 47.90% 1.39 Republican Party (United States) Bruce Herschensohn 4,644,182 43.00% 4.87 American Independent Party Jerome N. McCready 373,051 3.45% 1.96 Peace and Freedom Party (United States) Genevieve Torres 372,817 3.45% 3.99 Libertarian Party (United States) June R. Genis 235,919 2.18% 1.28 Write-in Joel Britton 110 0.00% Write-in John Cortese 101 0.00% Write-in Robert L. Bell 56 0.00% 10,799,647 100.00 Democratic Party (United States) By county Final results from the Secretary of State of California.http://sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992_general/statement_of_vote_general_1992.pdf Archived copy March 12, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080730215019/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992_general/statement_of_vote_general_1992.pdf July 30, 2008 County Boxer Votes Hersch. Votes McC. Votes Torres Votes Genis Votes W/I V'sSan Francisco76.57%233,06818.72%56,9721.48%4,5031.84%5,6021.38%4,2140.00%13Alameda66.94%343,02025.08%128,4893.08%15,7682.85%14,6102.04%10,4770.01%29Marin63.47%80,90229.14%37,1502.59%3,2992.08%2,6562.72%3,4640.00%1Santa Cruz61.21%67,92729.27%32,4822.98%3,3093.18%3,5253.36%3,7260.00%2San Mateo59.39%158,49032.68%87,2092.49%6,6382.87%7,6692.58%6,8790.00%0Yolo58.23%35,00633.10%19,9003.70%2,2222.85%1,7112.12%1,2740.00%0Sonoma56.76%108,99132.65%62,6964.05%7,7723.69%7,0842.85%5,4760.00%7Mendocino55.99%19,81833.10%11,7184.60%1,6273.28%1,1603.03%1,0740.00%0Contra Costa55.17%203,56335.76%131,9233.65%13,4623.06%11,2902.36%8,7110.00%3Santa Clara54.11%314,88435.55%206,9133.61%21,0013.59%20,9223.14%18,2610.00%2Los Angeles52.55%1,410,42339.60%1,062,9742.56%68,6303.57%95,7791.72%46,1950.00%65Solano51.87%67,00736.50%47,1485.12%6,6154.02%5,1882.49%3,2170.00%0Napa49.63%25,74639.81%20,6554.32%2,2403.55%1,8412.69%1,3960.00%0Sacramento49.09%215,85340.90%179,8443.96%17,4253.79%16,6842.25%9,9110.00%0Monterey48.65%54,40041.05%45,9034.16%4,6483.63%4,0582.51%2,8010.00%0Humboldt48.63%27,91643.13%24,7573.14%1,8023.38%1,9411.72%9860.00%0Lake46.82%10,80540.54%9,3576.01%1,3883.51%8103.12%7200.00%0Alpine45.18%27243.19%2605.81%354.65%281.16%70.00%0Santa Barbara45.11%70,99846.25%72,7933.49%5,4863.46%5,4441.70%2,6730.00%0Stanislaus45.03%55,68845.18%55,8754.31%5,3323.64%4,5011.85%2,2850.00%0Imperial44.66%11,61443.79%11,3893.15%8197.07%1,8391.33%3470.00%0San Benito43.68%5,41544.59%5,5274.76%5904.34%5382.63%3260.00%0Tuolumne42.81%9,81146.24%10,5964.86%1,1133.87%8862.21%5070.01%2Del Norte42.36%3,89146.69%4,2896.00%5513.05%2801.91%1750.00%0Mono42.23%1,82047.19%2,0344.01%1733.83%1652.74%1180.00%0San Diego42.17%399,08747.35%448,1814.06%38,4343.53%33,3792.89%27,3360.00%12San Joaquin42.15%66,48447.57%75,0324.41%6,9633.94%6,2131.92%3,0360.00%0S. L. Obispo41.23%41,82449.24%49,9454.47%4,5302.89%2,9332.17%2,2050.00%0Siskiyou40.60%8,11547.87%9,5686.33%1,2663.00%5992.21%4410.00%0Plumas40.48%4,03247.47%4,7287.13%7102.78%2772.13%2120.01%1Amador40.38%6,08248.91%7,3665.07%7643.23%4862.41%3630.00%0Ventura39.62%104,33550.62%133,2743.89%10,2533.66%9,6292.20%5,7930.01%25Nevada39.45%17,09149.87%21,6095.35%2,3172.74%1,1862.60%1,1250.00%0Placer39.33%34,90550.50%44,8133.98%3,5323.72%3,2972.47%2,1930.00%0Merced39.21%17,84849.12%22,3605.35%2,4343.47%1,5792.85%1,2980.00%0Sierra38.69%70548.19%8787.14%1303.02%552.96%540.00%0El Dorado38.66%24,60150.86%32,3684.68%2,9753.33%2,1162.48%1,5760.00%0Calaveras38.35%6,40249.54%8,2695.80%9693.35%5592.96%4940.00%0Lassen38.09%3,76148.85%4,8237.67%7573.33%3292.06%2030.00%0Riverside38.05%160,63051.83%218,7784.39%18,5123.63%15,3232.11%8,8910.00%0Butte37.41%31,50551.47%43,3385.11%4,3063.28%2,7622.73%2,2960.00%0Fresno36.93%78,32155.59%117,8912.16%4,5873.78%8,0091.53%3,2480.00%3S. Bernardino36.90%164,62051.81%231,1434.74%21,1384.38%19,5552.14%9,5580.02%100Mariposa36.86%2,98951.92%4,2115.36%4353.86%3132.00%1620.00%0Trinity35.16%2,26149.51%3,1847.79%5014.15%2673.39%2180.00%0Yuba34.03%5,63852.67%8,7267.24%1,1993.30%5472.76%4580.00%0Colusa33.57%1,85956.19%3,1125.00%2773.21%1782.02%1120.00%0Orange33.41%317,74057.89%550,5023.20%30,4003.21%30,5502.29%21,7830.00%2Kings33.09%8,15157.15%14,0793.63%8954.85%1,1961.28%3150.00%0Modoc32.64%1,42954.07%2,3678.18%3583.22%1411.90%830.00%0Madera31.89%9,40159.74%17,6093.42%1,0093.82%1,1271.12%3290.00%0Inyo30.98%2,56358.59%4,8474.96%4103.36%2782.12%1750.00%0Sutter30.83%7,71959.04%14,7834.86%1,2163.23%8092.05%5130.00%0Tehama30.71%6,45056.62%11,8936.47%1,3603.08%6473.12%6550.00%0Kern30.30%53,14160.97%106,9163.58%6,2863.54%6,2001.61%2,8230.00%0Tulare29.24%25,31162.21%53,8563.54%3,0663.78%3,2731.23%1,0670.00%0Shasta28.39%18,86859.44%39,5076.15%4,0853.78%2,5152.24%1,4920.00%0Glenn26.27%2,27162.16%5,3736.12%5293.23%2792.22%1920.00%0 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Imperial Alpine Lake Napa Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Lassen right 300px Shift by county 300px Trend by county Legend #d40000 Republican — >15% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5−15% #ff2a2a Republican — +10−12.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5−10% #ff8080 Republican — +5−7.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5−5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0−2.5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0−2.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5−5% #77e3ff Democratic — +5−7.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% #09ceff Democratic — +10−12.5% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5−15% #00a1c8 Democratic — >15% 300px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold #ca0120 Flip See also 1992 United States Senate elections References External links JoinCalifornia 1992 General Election 1992 California United States Senate