2016 United States Senate election in California


The 2016 United States Senate election in California was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of California, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Under California's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. In the California system, the top two finishers — regardless of party — advance to the general election in November, even if a candidate manages to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election. Washington and Louisiana have similar "jungle primary" style processes for senators.
Incumbent Democratic senator Barbara Boxer decided to not run for re-election to a fifth term in office. This was the first open seat Senate election in California in 24 years. In the primary on June 7, 2016, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez, both Democrats, finished in first and second place, respectively, and contested the general election. For the first time since direct elections to the Senate began after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, no Republican appeared on the general election ballot for U.S. Senate in California. The highest Republican finisher in the primary won only 7.8 percent of the vote, and the 10 Republicans only won 27.9 percent of the vote among them.
In the general election, Harris defeated Sanchez in a landslide, carrying 54 of the state's 58 counties including Sanchez's home county of Orange.

Background

Barbara Boxer was re-elected with 52.1% of the vote in 2010 against Republican Carly Fiorina. Towards the end of 2014, Boxer's low fundraising and cash-on-hand numbers led to speculation that she would retire. On January 8, 2015, Boxer announced that she would not run for re-election.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Declared

Declared

Declared

Declared

Declared

Declared

Primary election

Fundraising

The following are Federal Election Commission disclosures through the reporting period ending March 31, 2016.
Candidate ReceiptsDisbursementsCash on handDebt
$9,749,024$4,759,048$4,989,977$78,900
$3,251,186$921,291$2,329,895$209,217
$316,560$238,612$77,946$74,465
$532,638$475,415$57,222$181,640
$48,900$11,761$30,737$40,000
$38,916$21,554$17,361$25,000
$21,205$13,396$7,809$9,575
$6,305$4,860$1,444$0
$4,864$4,351$762$4,742
$7,246$6,988$290$0
$2,783$2,442$241$0

Polling


Hypothetical polling		------------

Results

General election

Fundraising

The following are Federal Election Commission disclosures through the reporting period ending March 31, 2016.
Candidate ReceiptsDisbursementsCash on handDebt
$9,749,024$4,759,048$4,989,977$78,900
$3,251,186$921,291$2,329,895$209,217

Debates

Predictions

Polling


Hypothetical polling		-------

Results

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