1994 United States Senate election in California
The 1994 United States Senate election in California was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein won re-election to her first full term.
Primary results
Democratic
Republican
Peace & Freedom
Others
General election
Candidates
- Dianne Feinstein, incumbent U.S. Senator
- Michael Huffington, U.S. Representative
- Elizabeth Cervantes Barron
- Barbara Blong
- Richard Benjamin Boddie
- Paul Meeuwenberg
Campaign
Huffington was called a hypocrite for supporting Proposition 187 and then breaking the law for employing illegal aliens, a story which came out in the race's final days. A grand total of $44 million was spent in the election. At the time, it was the most expensive campaign in a non-presidential election in American history. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post named the election one of the nastiest senate elections in modern history.
Results
On election day it was a very close race, but Feinstein won Los Angeles County, which may have pulled her ahead. Her sizable win in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area may also be credited to her slim statewide victory. A large number of absentee ballots left the results in doubt for over two weeks. On November 18, Senator Feinstein declared victory. At that time, she was ahead by 147,404 votes, with only 156,210 remaining uncounted ballots. Huffington had not conceded at that point, saying that there was evidence of voter fraud and calling for an investigation. He had already filed a legal complaint, which had already been dismissed. As of December 23, Huffington still contended that there may have been voting fraud and had not conceded.Overall
By county
Final results from the Secretary of State.| County | Feinstein | Votes | Huffington | Votes | Barron | Votes | Boddie | Votes | Others | Votes |
| San Francisco | 79.16% | 185,543 | 15.39% | 36,083 | 1.90% | 4,452 | 1.05% | 2,472 | 2.50% | 5,854 |
| Marin | 70.86% | 74,664 | 24.42% | 25,733 | 1.31% | 1,380 | 1.39% | 1,462 | 2.02% | 2,125 |
| Alameda | 68.34% | 271,456 | 25.21% | 100,120 | 2.35% | 9,323 | 1.45% | 5,778 | 2.65% | 10,539 |
| San Mateo | 64.24% | 136,686 | 29.94% | 63,702 | 2.05% | 4,362 | 1.50% | 3,187 | 2.28% | 4,850 |
| Contra Costa | 57.94% | 170,256 | 36.02% | 105,854 | 2.06% | 6,056 | 1.51% | 4,437 | 2.47% | 7,268 |
| Sonoma | 57.53% | 91,164 | 34.04% | 53,938 | 2.94% | 4,653 | 2.01% | 3,178 | 3.48% | 5,519 |
| Santa Cruz | 57.07% | 52,056 | 32.31% | 29,466 | 3.96% | 3,613 | 2.49% | 2,267 | 4.17% | 3,807 |
| Santa Clara | 55.79% | 245,232 | 35.93% | 157,922 | 2.96% | 13,029 | 2.14% | 9,403 | 3.18% | 13,983 |
| Yolo | 54.87% | 26,793 | 36.56% | 17,851 | 3.18% | 1,553 | 1.86% | 906 | 3.54% | 1,729 |
| Los Angeles | 51.53% | 1,046,026 | 40.38% | 819,594 | 3.35% | 67,993 | 1.97% | 39,952 | 2.78% | 56,332 |
| Solano | 51.01% | 49,920 | 41.03% | 40,158 | 2.90% | 2,834 | 1.68% | 1,645 | 3.38% | 3,312 |
| Napa | 50.73% | 21,340 | 41.33% | 17,388 | 2.33% | 982 | 1.82% | 766 | 3.78% | 1,592 |
| Mendocino | 50.27% | 15,008 | 39.90% | 11,912 | 3.20% | 955 | 2.72% | 812 | 3.92% | 1,169 |
| Sacramento | 47.85% | 168,073 | 43.88% | 154,128 | 2.85% | 9,994 | 1.84% | 6,446 | 3.58% | 12,584 |
| Santa Barbara | 47.16% | 60,811 | 43.29% | 55,825 | 2.84% | 3,664 | 2.29% | 2,956 | 4.41% | 5,686 |
| Alpine | 46.72% | 313 | 42.09% | 282 | 4.93% | 33 | 2.24% | 15 | 4.03% | 27 |
| Monterey | 46.52% | 42,246 | 43.94% | 39,905 | 4.20% | 3,814 | 1.55% | 1,411 | 3.79% | 3,439 |
| Humboldt | 46.04% | 21,817 | 43.77% | 20,742 | 2.54% | 1,202 | 2.31% | 1,093 | 5.35% | 2,534 |
| Lake | 44.76% | 8,675 | 46.66% | 9,043 | 2.32% | 449 | 2.33% | 451 | 3.94% | 763 |
| San Benito | 40.89% | 4,735 | 47.28% | 5,476 | 5.32% | 616 | 2.13% | 247 | 4.38% | 507 |
| San Joaquin | 39.89% | 50,218 | 52.00% | 65,466 | 2.88% | 3,622 | 1.55% | 1,954 | 3.69% | 4,646 |
| Fresno | 39.70% | 69,892 | 52.73% | 92,818 | 3.33% | 5,866 | 1.38% | 2,426 | 2.86% | 5,033 |
| Tuolumne | 39.54% | 7,693 | 52.26% | 10,169 | 2.46% | 479 | 2.11% | 410 | 3.63% | 706 |
| Merced | 39.02% | 15,092 | 52.67% | 20,372 | 3.44% | 1,329 | 1.59% | 616 | 3.29% | 1,272 |
| Stanislaus | 38.93% | 38,414 | 51.91% | 51,224 | 3.21% | 3,169 | 1.68% | 1,658 | 4.27% | 4,217 |
| Ventura | 38.57% | 82,472 | 50.98% | 108,993 | 3.59% | 7,671 | 2.70% | 5,773 | 4.16% | 8,891 |
| San Luis Obispo | 38.36% | 32,777 | 51.83% | 44,285 | 2.74% | 2,345 | 2.49% | 2,127 | 4.57% | 3,905 |
| Imperial | 38.33% | 9,086 | 49.46% | 11,724 | 7.32% | 1,735 | 1.38% | 328 | 3.51% | 832 |
| Amador | 38.25% | 4,950 | 53.32% | 6,900 | 1.94% | 251 | 2.23% | 288 | 4.26% | 551 |
| San Diego | 37.82% | 279,249 | 53.17% | 392,529 | 3.08% | 22,745 | 2.48% | 18,314 | 3.45% | 25,441 |
| Nevada | 37.37% | 13,987 | 53.64% | 20,076 | 2.06% | 771 | 2.73% | 1,023 | 4.19% | 1,570 |
| Placer | 36.93% | 27,934 | 54.28% | 41,058 | 2.33% | 1,759 | 2.20% | 1,666 | 4.27% | 3,231 |
| El Dorado | 36.77% | 19,888 | 54.37% | 29,402 | 2.05% | 1,109 | 2.46% | 1,331 | 4.35% | 2,352 |
| Plumas | 36.53% | 3,082 | 54.03% | 4,559 | 2.71% | 229 | 2.61% | 220 | 4.12% | 348 |
| Mono | 35.98% | 1,263 | 53.25% | 1,869 | 2.42% | 85 | 2.48% | 87 | 5.87% | 206 |
| Mariposa | 35.53% | 2,520 | 55.20% | 3,915 | 2.23% | 158 | 2.26% | 160 | 4.78% | 339 |
| Calaveras | 35.17% | 5,467 | 54.30% | 8,441 | 2.32% | 360 | 2.90% | 450 | 5.31% | 826 |
| Siskiyou | 34.58% | 6,256 | 55.50% | 10,040 | 2.92% | 529 | 2.59% | 468 | 4.41% | 798 |
| Del Norte | 34.51% | 2,553 | 56.16% | 4,154 | 2.16% | 160 | 2.22% | 164 | 4.95% | 366 |
| Butte | 34.45% | 23,317 | 57.03% | 38,600 | 2.64% | 1,789 | 2.20% | 1,492 | 3.68% | 2,490 |
| Sierra | 34.25% | 548 | 54.31% | 869 | 3.06% | 49 | 3.94% | 63 | 4.44% | 71 |
| Kings | 33.98% | 7,592 | 56.96% | 12,725 | 3.79% | 846 | 1.45% | 323 | 3.82% | 854 |
| Riverside | 33.95% | 115,333 | 56.11% | 190,615 | 3.41% | 11,582 | 2.58% | 8,755 | 3.96% | 13,438 |
| San Bernardino | 33.34% | 114,027 | 55.95% | 191,343 | 3.73% | 12,752 | 2.89% | 9,876 | 4.09% | 13,986 |
| Madera | 32.56% | 8,613 | 59.26% | 15,675 | 2.84% | 750 | 1.71% | 452 | 3.63% | 960 |
| Lassen | 32.44% | 2,639 | 56.51% | 4,597 | 2.83% | 230 | 2.79% | 227 | 5.43% | 442 |
| Orange | 31.88% | 239,010 | 58.87% | 441,398 | 2.71% | 20,308 | 2.92% | 21,901 | 3.62% | 27,175 |
| Trinity | 31.87% | 1,703 | 54.53% | 2,914 | 3.71% | 198 | 3.89% | 208 | 6.01% | 321 |
| Tulare | 31.45% | 24,244 | 59.77% | 46,074 | 3.72% | 2,871 | 1.76% | 1,359 | 3.29% | 2,535 |
| Yuba | 29.70% | 4,158 | 59.75% | 8,365 | 3.06% | 429 | 2.44% | 341 | 5.05% | 707 |
| Colusa | 29.34% | 1,449 | 63.29% | 3,126 | 2.77% | 137 | 1.48% | 73 | 3.12% | 154 |
| Tehama | 27.94% | 5,142 | 61.55% | 11,329 | 2.84% | 522 | 2.67% | 492 | 5.00% | 921 |
| Shasta | 27.83% | 15,077 | 62.99% | 34,129 | 2.51% | 1,362 | 2.21% | 1,200 | 4.46% | 2,417 |
| Sutter | 27.23% | 5,958 | 65.09% | 14,242 | 2.55% | 559 | 1.63% | 357 | 3.50% | 766 |
| Kern | 26.63% | 39,987 | 63.61% | 95,504 | 3.43% | 5,153 | 2.15% | 3,229 | 4.17% | 6,259 |
| Inyo | 25.96% | 1,841 | 64.95% | 4,606 | 2.51% | 178 | 2.14% | 152 | 4.44% | 315 |
| Modoc | 24.77% | 951 | 63.72% | 2,447 | 2.55% | 98 | 3.23% | 124 | 5.73% | 220 |
| Glenn | 24.68% | 1,956 | 67.51% | 5,351 | 2.01% | 159 | 1.63% | 129 | 4.18% | 331 |