Special elections to the California State Assembly are called by the Governor of California when a vacancy arises within the State Assembly. Special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first round is an open primary. The second round is cancelled if one of the candidates receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round. Prior to 2012, the top vote getter from each party in the first round would advance to the second round. Since the enactment of Proposition 14 in 2010 (which became effective 2012), the top two vote getters in the first round, regardless of party, advance to the second round.
Recall elections, the process by which voters petition for the removal of an elected official, are also included.
List of special elections The dates listed are the second round unless a winner is determined in the primary round (when a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote).
District Date Predecessor Winner 30 January 23, 1962 Ralph Brown (D) John Veneman (R) 8 November 5, 1962 Jimmy Hicks (D) Walter Powers (D) 49 May 9, 1967 Charles Edward Chapel (R) Robert G. Beverly (R) 30 May 20, 1969 John Veneman (R) Clare Berryhill (R) 34 June 17, 1969 Alan Pattee (R) Bob Wood (R) 48 November 16, 1971 David Roberti (D) Bill Brophy (R) 76 November 16, 1971 Pete Wilson (R) Bob Wilson (D) 49 June 6, 1972 Peter F. Schabarum (R) William H. Lancaster (R) 38 May 29, 1973 Carley V. Porter (D) Robert M. McLennan (R) 67 June 26, 1973 Larry Townsend (D) Paul Bannai (R) 80 June 26, 1973 John Stull (R) William A. Craven (R) 12 September 4, 1973 Robert T. Monagan (R) Douglas F. Carter (R) 14 September 4, 1973 Robert W. Crown (D) Bill Lockyer (D) 15 March 4, 1975 Carlos Bee (D) Floyd Mori (D) 4 December 2, 1975 Edwin L. Z'berg (D) Vic Fazio (D) 47 July 15, 1975 Bill Greene (D) Teresa Hughes (D) 46 June 2, 1977 Charles Warren (D) Mike Roos (D) 44 June 28, 1977 Alan Sieroty (D) Mel Levine (D) 55 June 3, 1986 Richard Alatorre (D) Richard Polanco (D) 56 May 12, 1987 Gloria Molina (D) Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) 16 April 12, 1988 Art Agnos (D) John Burton (D) 50 February 7, 1989 Curtis R. Tucker (D) Curtis R. Tucker Jr. (D) 76 October 3, 1989 Bill Bradley (R) Tricia Hunter (R) 27 January 30, 1990 Gary Condit (D) Sal Cannella (D) 78 June 5, 1990 Lucy Killea (D) Jeff Marston (R) 26 May 14, 1991 Patrick Johnston (D) Dean Andal (R) 46 July 30, 1991 Mike Roos (D) Barbara Friedman (D) 5 September 17, 1991 Tim Leslie (R) B. T. Collins (R) 67 September 17, 1991 John Lewis (R) Mickey Conroy (R) 31 February 21, 1993 Bruce Bronzan (D) Cruz Bustamante (D) 5 July 27, 1993 B. T. Collins (R) Barbara Alby (R) 27 November 2, 1993 Sam Farr (D) Bruce McPherson (R) 79 April 12, 1994 Steve Peace (D) Denise Moreno Ducheny (D) 43 May 3, 1994 Pat Nolan (R) Jim Rogan (R) 60 May 16, 1995 Paul Horcher (R) Gary Miller (R) 59 June 6, 1995 Dick Mountjoy (R) Bob Margett (R) 72 September 12, 1995 Ross Johnson (R) Dick Ackerman (R) 67 November 28, 1995 Doris Allen (R) Scott Baugh (R) 13 March 26, 1996 Willie Brown (D) Carole Migden (D) 46 January 13, 1998 Louis Caldera (D) Gil Cedillo (D) 16 March 30, 1999 Don Perata (D) Audie Bock (G) 49 April 3, 2001 Gloria Romero (D) Judy Chu (D) 65 April 3, 2001 Brett Granlund (R) /Jan Leja (R) Russ Bogh (R) 53 September 13, 2005 Mike Gordon (D) Ted Lieu (D) 39 May 15, 2007 Richard Alarcón (D) Felipe Fuentes (D) 55 February 5, 2008 Laura Richardson (D) Warren Furutani (D) 51 September 1, 2009 Curren Price (D) Steven Bradford (D) 72 January 12, 2010 Michael Duvall (R) Chris Norby (R) 43 June 8, 2010 Paul Krekorian (D) Mike Gatto (D) 4 May 3, 2011 Ted Gaines (R) Beth Gaines (R) 80 May 21, 2013 Ben Hueso (D) Lorena Gonzalez (D) 52 July 23, 2013 Norma Torres (D) Freddie Rodriguez (D) 45 November 19, 2013 Bob Blumenfield (D) Matt Dababneh (D) 54 December 3, 2013 Holly Mitchell (D) Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D) 31 April 5, 2016 Henry Perea (D) Joaquin Arambula (D) 51 December 5, 2017 Jimmy Gomez (D) Wendy Carrillo (D) 54 April 3, 2018 Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D) Sydney Kamlager (D) 39 June 5, 2018 Raul Bocanegra (D) Luz Rivas (D) 45 June 5, 2018 Matt Dababneh (D) Jesse Gabriel (D) 1 November 5, 2019 Brian Dahle (R) Megan Dahle (R) 79 April 6, 2021 Shirley Weber (D) Akilah Weber (D) 54 May 18, 2021 Sydney Kamlager (D) Isaac Bryan (D) 18 August 31, 2021 Rob Bonta (D) Mia Bonta (D) 49 February 15, 2022 Ed Chau (D) Mike Fong (D) 11 April 5, 2022 Jim Frazier (D) Lori Wilson (D) 17 April 19, 2022 David Chiu (D) Matt Haney (D) 62 June 7, 2022 Autumn Burke (D) Tina McKinnor (D) 80 June 7, 2022 Lorena Gonzalez (D) David Alvarez (D) 32 February 25, 2025 Vince Fong (R) Stan Ellis (R) 63 August 26, 2025 Bill Essayli (R) Natasha Johnson
List of recall elections A replacement assemblymember is only listed in cases in which the recall was successful.
District Date Recall target Replacement 60 May 16, 1995 Paul Horcher (I) Gary Miller (R) 17 August 22, 1995 Michael Machado (D) Not applicable, recall failed 67 November 28, 1995 Doris Allen (R) Scott Baugh (R)
Results
53rd district special election, 2005
39th district special election, 2007
55th district special election, 2008
51st district special election, 2009
72nd district special election, 2010
43rd district special election, 2010
4th district special election, 2011
80th district special election, 2013
52nd district special election, 2013
45th district special election, 2013
54th district special election, 2013
31st district special election, 2016
51st district special election, 2017
54th district special election, 2018
39th district special election, 2018
45th district special election, 2018
1st district special election, 2019
79th district special election, 2021
54th district special election, 2021
18th district special election, 2021
49th district special election, 2022
17th district special election, 2022
11th district special election, 2022
62nd district special election, 2022
80th district special election, 2022
32nd district special election, 2025
63rd district special election, 2025
Notes
References