The California state special elections, 2009 were held on May 19, 2009 throughout the state of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The elections were authorized by the State Legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 and Governor

Governor of California

The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

 Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

 as a part of a budget signed into law on February 19, 2009. Voters voted on six ballot propositions

California ballot proposition

In California, a ballot proposition is a proposed law that is submitted to the electorate for approval in a direct vote . It may take the form of a constitutional amendment or an ordinary statute. A ballot proposition may be proposed by the State Legislature or by a petition signed by members of...

, 1A through 1F, for the open 26th

California's 26th State Senate district

California's 26th State Senate District is one of 40 Senate Districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Curren D. Price, Jr. of Los Angeles, who won the special election to replace Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas who resigned upon his election as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of...

 State Senate

California State Senate

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 district seat, and in a primary for the open 32nd congressional district

California's 32nd congressional district

California's 32nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district covers East Los Angeles and includes El Monte, Monterey Park and West Covina in Greater Los Angeles....

 seat. All of the propositions except 1F were defeated.

Background

In February 2009 the State Legislature narrowly passed the 2008–2009 state budget during a special session, months after it was due. As part of the plan to lower the state's annual deficits, the State Legislature ordered a special election with various budget reform ballot propositions.

Proposition 1A

Proposition 1A was a constitutional amendment that would have increased the annual contributions to the state's rainy day fund

Rainy day fund

Rainy day fund, rainy day reserve, or emergency fund are terms used to describe a reserved amount of money to be used in times when regular income is disrupted or decreased in order for typical operations to continue. In the United States, the term is usually used to apply to the funds maintained...

.

Proposition 1B

Proposition 1B would have secured additional funding for primary education, but only if Proposition 1A passed as well.

Proposition 1C

Proposition 1C was a constitutional amendment that would have made significant changes to the operation of the State Lottery

California State Lottery

The California State Lottery, also known as the California Lottery, began on November 6, 1984, after California voters passed Proposition 37, the California State Lottery Act of 1984, authorizing the creation of a lottery...

.

Proposition 1D

Proposition 1D would have authorized a one-time reallocation of tobacco tax revenue to help balance the state budget.

Proposition 1E

Proposition 1E would have authorized a one-time reallocation of income tax revenue to help balance the state budget.

Proposition 1F

Proposition 1F prohibited pay raises for members of the State Legislature, the Governor, and other state officials during deficit years.

Opinion polling

Field Poll: March 3, 2009 Among likely voters:>

Proposition	Yes	No
1A	57%	21%
1B	53%	30%
1C	47%	39%
1D	54%	24%
1E	57%	23%
1F	77%	13%

SurveyUSA Poll: March 11–12, 2009 (commissioned by KABC-TV

KABC-TV

KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...

, KFSN-TV

KFSN-TV

KFSN-TV, UHF channel 30, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Fresno, California. The station's transmitter is located in Meadow Lakes, California. Its signal covers the Central San Joaquin Valley and the mountain...

, KGTV-TV, and KPIX-TV

KPIX-TV

KPIX-TV is the CBS owned and operated television station in San Francisco, California. Through its parent company CBS Corporation, KPIX is co-owned with The CW affiliate KBCW-TV ....

) Among likely voters:>

Proposition	Yes	No
1A	27%	29%
1B	38%	30%
1C	28%	29%
1D	40%	28%
1E	36%	30%
1F	27%	31%

PPIC Poll: March 25, 2009 Among likely voters:>

Proposition	Yes	No
1A	39%	46%
1B	44%	41%
1C	37%	50%
1D	48%	36%
1E	47%	37%
1F	81%	13%

SurveyUSA Poll: April 20–21, 2009 (commissioned by KABC-TV

KABC-TV

KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...

, KFSN-TV

KFSN-TV

KFSN-TV, UHF channel 30, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Fresno, California. The station's transmitter is located in Meadow Lakes, California. Its signal covers the Central San Joaquin Valley and the mountain...

, KGTV-TV, and KPIX-TV

KPIX-TV

KPIX-TV is the CBS owned and operated television station in San Francisco, California. Through its parent company CBS Corporation, KPIX is co-owned with The CW affiliate KBCW-TV ....

) Among likely voters:>

Proposition	Yes	No
1A	29%	42%
1B	37%	42%
1C	23%	41%
1D	37%	39%
1E	32%	41%
1F	32%	34%

Field Poll: April 29, 2009 Among likely voters:>

Proposition	Yes	No
1A	40%	49%
1B	40%	49%
1C	32%	59%
1D	40%	49%
1E	40%	51%
1F	71%	24%

26th State Senate district special election

A special election to fill the 26th district

California's 26th State Senate district

California's 26th State Senate District is one of 40 Senate Districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Curren D. Price, Jr. of Los Angeles, who won the special election to replace Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas who resigned upon his election as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of...

 of the State Senate

California State Senate

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 was called by Governor Schwarzenegger on December 10, 2008 as a consequence of the resignation of former State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas

Mark Ridley-Thomas

Mark Ridley-Thomas , often referred to by his initials, MRT, is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for District 2, who succeeded Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke...

 following his election to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five-member nonpartisan governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district. They were as of December 2, 2008:*District 1: Gloria Molina...

. A special primary election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

 was held on March 24, 2009, and the special election was held on May 19, 2009.

Candidates

A total of eight candidates registered for the special election, but only three qualified for the special election:

Democratic

• Robert Cole, a member of the Los Angeles County Citizens' Economy and Efficiency Committee
• Mike Davis
  Mike Davis (politician)
  Mike Davis has represented California State Assembly district 48 since December 2006. The district is located entirely within Los Angeles County and includes Arlington Park, Athens, Chesterfield Square, King Estates, Koreatown, Lafayette Square, Magnolia Square, North University Park, University...
  
  , the State Assemblymember
  California State Assembly
  The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
  
   from the 48th district
  California's 48th State Assembly district
  California's 48th State Assembly District is one of 80 districts in the California State Assembly. It is currently represented by Democrat Mike Davis of Los Angeles.-District profile:...
  
  
• Saundra Davis, a board member of the Culver City Unified School District
  Culver City Unified School District
  Culver City Unified School District, abbreviated CCUSD, is a school district located in Culver City, California that serves approximately 6,500 pupils in a variety of schools....
  
   and a businesswoman
• Mervin Leon Evans, an author and management consultant
• Jonathan Friedman, a financial analyst
• Curren D. Price, Jr.
  Curren D. Price, Jr.
  Curren De Mille Price, Jr. is a California politician from the Democratic Party, currently serving as senator for the California State Senate, representing the state's 26th Senate District which he won in the May 19, 2009 special election to fill the seat vacated by Mark Ridley-Thomas...
  
  , the State Assemblymember from the 51st district
  California's 51st State Assembly district
  California's 51st State Assembly District is one of 80 districts in the California State Assembly. It is represented by Democrat Steven Bradford of Gardena, who replaced Curren Price in a special election.-District profile:...
  
  

Primary election

An open primary

Open primary

An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted...

 election for the special election was held on March 24, 2009. Since no candidate won a majority, the candidates with the top votes for each party advanced to the special general election. Price won more votes than any other Democrat while Shifren and Henderson were the only candidates of their parties.

Special election

In the special runoff election, Democratic Curren Price won by a large margin, beating Republican Nachum Schifren and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Cindy Henderson.

32nd congressional district special primary election

A special election to fill the 32nd congressional district

California's 32nd congressional district

California's 32nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California based in Los Angeles County. The district covers East Los Angeles and includes El Monte, Monterey Park and West Covina in Greater Los Angeles....

 was called by Governor Schwarzenegger on March 10, 2009 as a consequence of the resignation of former Congresswoman Hilda Solis

Hilda Solis

Hilda Lucia Solis is the 25th United States Secretary of Labor, serving in the Obama administration. She is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, representing the 31st and 32nd congressional districts of California that include...

 following her appointment as United States Secretary of Labor

United States Secretary of Labor

The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....

. The special primary election was May 19, 2009 while the special election was held on July 14, 2009. The election was won by Democrat Judy Chu

Judy Chu

Judy May Chu, Ph.D. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. She is a member of the Democratic Party....

, who became the first Chinese American woman elected to serve in Congress.

Primary election

In the May 19 primary, Democrat Judy Chu led all candidates, but failed to gain enough to prevent a runoff general election. Betty Chu qualified as the Republican candidate for the runoff and Christopher Agrella qualified as the Libertarian.

Special election

In the special runoff election, Democratic Judy Chu won by a significant margin, beating Republican Betty Chu and Libertarian candidate Christopher Agrella.