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 as well as 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 write-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 is the most ever received by a candidate for U.S. Senate in American history. This is the most recent U.S. Senate race in California where a Republican advanced to the general election ; in 2016 and 2018, only Democratic candidates advanced to the runoff.

Primary

Candidates

Democratic Party


Open Primary

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.

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

General election

Candidates

No debates were scheduled. Senator Feinstein decided to focus on her own campaign rather than debate her challenger.

Predictions

Polling

Results

Results by county