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.

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 Stockton 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 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

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). 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. 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. 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.

Results The election was very close. Boxer was declared the winner by the Associated Press at 1:22 A.M. Pacific Coast Time.

By county

Final results from the Secretary of State of California.

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

See also 1992 United States Senate elections

References

External links JoinCalifornia 1992 General Election