2012 United States Senate election in California

The 2012 United States Senate election in California took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 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 wrote 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 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 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 Candidate (party) Receipts Disbursements Cash on hand DebtDianne Feinstein (D) $12,673,306 $12,105,960 $865,541 $373,734Elizabeth Emken (R) $1,114,350 $1,110,209 $4,140 $4,479 Source: Federal Election Commission

Top contributors

Dianne Feinstein Contribution Elizabeth Emken Contribution Pacific Gas and Electric Company $120,700 Thomas H. Lee Partners $10,000 JStreetPAC $82,171 DevicePharm, Inc. $7,500 General Atomics $56,750 Troy Group $7,500 Edison International $54,250 Jelly Belly $5,500 General Dynamics $43,500 Autism Advocate $5,000 BAE Systems $40,000 Geier Group $5,000 Diamond Foods $31,599 Generations Healthcare $5,000 Northrop Grumman $30,800 Gingery Development $4,000 International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees $30,000 MIR3, Inc. $3,000 Wells Fargo $27,250 Northrop Grumman $2,800 Source: OpenSecrets

Top industries

Dianne Feinstein Contribution Elizabeth Emken Contribution Lawyers/law firms $565,129 Retired $63,849 Retired $463,058 Republican/Conservative $35,800 Agribusiness $367,132 Financial institutions $26,100 Real estate $334,321 Real estate $19,200 Lobbyists $324,196 Business services $16,000 Financial institutions $321,744 Misc. finance $12,750 Electric utilities $313,450 Printing & publishing $8,000 Entertainment industry $300,321 Food & beverage $6,000 Women's issues $207,449 Petroleum industry $6,000 High-tech industry $205,789 Lawyers/law firms $5,458 Source: OpenSecrets

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 Source Ranking As of The Cook Political Report November 1, 2012 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 5, 2012 Rothenberg Political Report November 2, 2012 Real Clear Politics November 5, 2012

Polling Poll source DianneFeinstein (D) ElizabethEmken (R) Other UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA May 27–29, 2012 1,575 ±2.5% 50% 34% — 15%The Field PollThe Field Poll June 21 – July 2, 2012 848 ±3.5% 51% 32% — 17%CBRT PepperdineCBRT Pepperdine July 30 – August 1, 2012 873 ±3.3% 46% 34% — 21%SurveyUSASurveyUSA September 9–11, 2012 524 ±4.2% 55% 37% — 9%The Field PollThe Field Poll September 6–18, 2012 902 ±3.4% 57% 31% — 12%SurveyUSASurveyUSA October 7–9, 2012 539 ±4.3% 54% 35% — 10%Reason-RupeReason-Rupe October 11–15, 2012 508 ±5.1% 60% 34% 2% 5%LA Times/USCLA Times/USC October 15–21, 2012 1,440 ±n/a 55% 38% 1% 6%The Field PollThe Field Poll October 17–24, 2012 815 ±3.6% 56% 32% — 12%The Field Poll October 25–30, 2012 751 ±3.6% 54% 33% — 13%

Results

By county County Dianne FeinsteinDemocratic Elizabeth EmkenRepublican Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % Alameda468,45681.93%103,31318.07%365,14363.86%571,769 Alpine40964.11%22935.89%18028.21%638 Amador7,05140.80%10,23259.20%-3,181-18.41%17,283 Butte43,68149.27%44,98150.73%-1,300-1.47%88,662 Calaveras8,87841.57%12,47958.43%-3,601-16.86%21,357 Colusa2,48243.28%3,25356.72%-771-13.44%5,735 Contra Costa300,19470.06%128,31029.94%171,88440.11%428,504 Del Norte4,06547.45%4,50252.55%-437-5.10%8,567 El Dorado35,77641.31%50,82058.69%-15,044-17.37%86,596 Fresno129,26751.14%123,49948.86%5,7682.28%252,766 Glenn3,52038.96%5,51561.04%-1,995-22.08%9,035 Humboldt36,16265.04%19,43734.96%16,72530.08%55,599 Imperial25,34267.24%12,34632.76%12,99634.48%37,688 Inyo3,33342.58%4,49457.42%-1,161-14.83%7,827 Kern92,25242.29%125,90657.71%-33,654-15.43%218,158 Kings13,30442.61%17,91657.39%-4,612-14.77%31,220 Lake13,54358.97%9,42441.03%4,11917.93%22,967 Lassen3,15029.89%7,39070.11%-4,240-40.23%10,540 Los Angeles2,183,65471.53%868,92428.47%1,314,73043.07%3,052,578 Madera15,99741.08%22,94258.92%-6,945-17.84%38,939 Marin105,15380.11%26,10519.89%79,04860.22%131,258 Mariposa3,55140.27%5,26859.73%-1,717-19.47%8,819 Mendocino24,25470.35%10,22429.65%14,03040.69%34,478 Merced32,95554.97%27,00045.03%5,9559.93%59,955 Modoc1,18830.08%2,76169.92%-1,573-39.83%3,949 Mono2,60051.96%2,40448.04%1963.92%5,004 Monterey84,58569.61%36,93030.39%47,65539.22%121,515 Napa37,12266.52%18,68233.48%18,44033.04%55,804 Nevada25,49550.41%25,07849.59%4170.82%50,573 Orange515,90247.48%570,57452.52%-54,672-5.03%1,086,476 Placer68,59941.39%97,13958.61%-28,540-17.22%165,738 Plumas4,16242.81%5,56057.19%-1,398-14.38%9,722 Riverside327,69851.90%303,65148.10%24,0473.81%631,349 Sacramento302,07860.72%195,41239.28%106,66621.44%497,490 San Benito11,38961.09%7,25538.91%4,13422.17%18,644 San Bernardino298,06754.05%253,43345.95%44,6348.09%551,500 San Diego622,78154.41%521,88445.59%100,8978.81%1,144,665 San Francisco305,12688.52%39,58911.48%265,53777.03%344,715 San Joaquin113,70657.00%85,78743.00%27,91913.99%199,493 San Luis Obispo62,21650.80%60,26249.20%1,9541.60%122,478 San Mateo213,50377.22%62,97922.78%150,52454.44%276,482 Santa Barbara93,92159.62%63,59940.38%30,32219.25%157,520 Santa Clara454,64772.93%168,72227.07%285,92545.87%623,369 Santa Cruz91,10978.16%25,46321.84%65,64656.31%116,572 Shasta27,15536.53%47,18463.47%-20,029-26.94%74,339 Sierra67738.58%1,07861.42%-401-22.85%1,755 Siskiyou8,19641.97%11,33458.03%-3,138-16.07%19,530 Solano98,25165.99%50,63434.01%47,61731.98%148,885 Sonoma154,89273.71%55,25626.29%99,63647.41%210,148 Stanislaus78,47051.79%73,06048.21%5,4103.57%151,530 Sutter12,39541.17%17,71558.83%-5,320-17.67%30,110 Tehama8,34936.96%14,24163.04%-5,892-26.08%22,590 Trinity2,65847.46%2,94352.54%-285-5.09%5,601 Tulare42,39542.87%56,49957.13%-14,104-14.26%98,894 Tuolumne10,33642.78%13,82357.22%-3,487-14.43%24,159 Ventura171,48354.42%143,60345.58%27,8808.85%315,086 Yolo49,14867.68%23,46832.32%25,68035.36%72,616 Yuba7,89640.97%11,37659.03%-3,480-18.06%19,272Totals7,864,62462.52%4,713,88737.48%3,150,73725.05%12,578,511

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Butte (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. District Feinstein Emken Representative 42% 58%Doug LaMalfa 73% 27%Jared Huffman 56% 44%John Garamendi 41% 59%Tom McClintock 72% 28%Mike Thompson 71% 29%Doris Matsui 53% 47%Ami Bera 43% 57%Paul Cook 60% 40%Jerry McNerney 52% 48%Jeff Denham 72% 28%George Miller 89% 11%Nancy Pelosi 91% 9%Barbara Lee 79% 21%Jackie Speier 71% 29%Eric Swalwell 59% 41%Jim Costa 75% 25%Mike Honda 72% 28%Anna Eshoo 74% 26%Zoe Lofgren 73% 27%Sam Farr 56% 44%David Valadao 43% 57%Devin Nunes 38% 62%Kevin McCarthy 56% 44%Lois Capps 49% 51%Buck McKeon 56% 44%Julia Brownley 65% 35%Judy Chu 73% 27%Adam Schiff 78% 22%Tony Cárdenas 69% 31%Brad Sherman 59% 41%Gary Miller 67% 33%Grace Napolitano 65% 35%Henry Waxman 85% 15%Xavier Becerra 68% 32%Gloria Negrete McLeod 54% 46%Raul Ruiz 86% 14%Karen Bass 67% 33%Linda Sánchez 49% 51%Ed Royce 81% 19%Lucille Roybal-Allard 63% 37%Mark Takano 43% 57%Ken Calvert 78% 22%Maxine Waters 85% 15%Janice Hahn 44% 56%John B. T. Campbell III 63% 37%Loretta Sánchez 61% 39%Alan Lowenthal 45% 55%Dana Rohrabacher 47% 53%Darrell Issa 40% 60%Duncan Hunter 70% 30%Juan Vargas 54% 46%Scott Peters 63% 37%Susan Davis

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