Election
1992 United States Senate election in California
County results Boxer: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70%
Herchensohn: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
The 1992 United States Senate election in California took place on November 3, 1992, at the same time as the
special election to the United States Senate in California . Incumbent Democrat
Alan Cranston decided to retire. Democrat
Barbara Boxer won the open seat. This election was noted as both of California's Senators were elected for the first time. This is not a unique occurrence; it would happen again in
Tennessee in 1994 ,
Kansas in 1996 , and
Georgia in 2020-21 . Fellow Democrat
Dianne Feinstein , California's senior senator, won the special election and was inaugurated in November 1992.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
In the primary election in June, Boxer defeated McCarthy and Levine with 43.6% of the vote.
[1]
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Peace and Freedom primary
Candidates
Genevieve Torres,
Shirley Lee
Results
General election
Campaign
The general election between Boxer and Herschensohn was very close. At the eleventh hour, controversy emerged that the Republican nominee attended a strip club, which some Republican operatives later blamed for Herschensohn's loss.
[5]
Four days before
Election Day polls showed Herschensohn had narrowed a double digit deficit, trailing by 3 points.
Political operative
Bob Mulholland disrupted a campaign appearance with a large poster advertising a
strip club shouting "Should the voters of California elect someone who frequently travels the strip joints of Hollywood?" Herschensohn admitted he had visited a strip club once, with his girlfriend and another couple. With
press coverage of the story, Herschensohn spent the waning days of the campaign denying related allegations. When the votes were cast and counted, Boxer won the election by five points.
[6] Although Republicans have blamed the defeat on the underhanded tactics of the Boxer campaign, evidence of the connection between Mulholland's outburst and the campaign never surfaced.
[7]
[8]
[9]
Results
The election was very close. Boxer was declared the winner by the
Associated Press at 1:22 A.M. Pacific Coast Time.
By county
Final results from the
Secretary of State of California .
[10]
County
Boxer
Votes
Hersch.
Votes
McC.
Votes
Torres
Votes
Genis
Votes
W/I
V's
San Francisco
76.57%
233,068
18.72%
56,972
1.48%
4,503
1.84%
5,602
1.38%
4,214
0.00%
13
Alameda
66.94%
343,020
25.08%
128,489
3.08%
15,768
2.85%
14,610
2.04%
10,477
0.01%
29
Marin
63.47%
80,902
29.14%
37,150
2.59%
3,299
2.08%
2,656
2.72%
3,464
0.00%
1
Santa Cruz
61.21%
67,927
29.27%
32,482
2.98%
3,309
3.18%
3,525
3.36%
3,726
0.00%
2
San Mateo
59.39%
158,490
32.68%
87,209
2.49%
6,638
2.87%
7,669
2.58%
6,879
0.00%
0
Yolo
58.23%
35,006
33.10%
19,900
3.70%
2,222
2.85%
1,711
2.12%
1,274
0.00%
0
Sonoma
56.76%
108,991
32.65%
62,696
4.05%
7,772
3.69%
7,084
2.85%
5,476
0.00%
7
Mendocino
55.99%
19,818
33.10%
11,718
4.60%
1,627
3.28%
1,160
3.03%
1,074
0.00%
0
Contra Costa
55.17%
203,563
35.76%
131,923
3.65%
13,462
3.06%
11,290
2.36%
8,711
0.00%
3
Santa Clara
54.11%
314,884
35.55%
206,913
3.61%
21,001
3.59%
20,922
3.14%
18,261
0.00%
2
Los Angeles
52.55%
1,410,423
39.60%
1,062,974
2.56%
68,630
3.57%
95,779
1.72%
46,195
0.00%
65
Solano
51.87%
67,007
36.50%
47,148
5.12%
6,615
4.02%
5,188
2.49%
3,217
0.00%
0
Napa
49.63%
25,746
39.81%
20,655
4.32%
2,240
3.55%
1,841
2.69%
1,396
0.00%
0
Sacramento
49.09%
215,853
40.90%
179,844
3.96%
17,425
3.79%
16,684
2.25%
9,911
0.00%
0
Monterey
48.65%
54,400
41.05%
45,903
4.16%
4,648
3.63%
4,058
2.51%
2,801
0.00%
0
Humboldt
48.63%
27,916
43.13%
24,757
3.14%
1,802
3.38%
1,941
1.72%
986
0.00%
0
Lake
46.82%
10,805
40.54%
9,357
6.01%
1,388
3.51%
810
3.12%
720
0.00%
0
Alpine
45.18%
272
43.19%
260
5.81%
35
4.65%
28
1.16%
7
0.00%
0
Santa Barbara
45.11%
70,998
46.25%
72,793
3.49%
5,486
3.46%
5,444
1.70%
2,673
0.00%
0
Stanislaus
45.03%
55,688
45.18%
55,875
4.31%
5,332
3.64%
4,501
1.85%
2,285
0.00%
0
Imperial
44.66%
11,614
43.79%
11,389
3.15%
819
7.07%
1,839
1.33%
347
0.00%
0
San Benito
43.68%
5,415
44.59%
5,527
4.76%
590
4.34%
538
2.63%
326
0.00%
0
Tuolumne
42.81%
9,811
46.24%
10,596
4.86%
1,113
3.87%
886
2.21%
507
0.01%
2
Del Norte
42.36%
3,891
46.69%
4,289
6.00%
551
3.05%
280
1.91%
175
0.00%
0
Mono
42.23%
1,820
47.19%
2,034
4.01%
173
3.83%
165
2.74%
118
0.00%
0
San Diego
42.17%
399,087
47.35%
448,181
4.06%
38,434
3.53%
33,379
2.89%
27,336
0.00%
12
San Joaquin
42.15%
66,484
47.57%
75,032
4.41%
6,963
3.94%
6,213
1.92%
3,036
0.00%
0
S. L. Obispo
41.23%
41,824
49.24%
49,945
4.47%
4,530
2.89%
2,933
2.17%
2,205
0.00%
0
Siskiyou
40.60%
8,115
47.87%
9,568
6.33%
1,266
3.00%
599
2.21%
441
0.00%
0
Plumas
40.48%
4,032
47.47%
4,728
7.13%
710
2.78%
277
2.13%
212
0.01%
1
Amador
40.38%
6,082
48.91%
7,366
5.07%
764
3.23%
486
2.41%
363
0.00%
0
Ventura
39.62%
104,335
50.62%
133,274
3.89%
10,253
3.66%
9,629
2.20%
5,793
0.01%
25
Nevada
39.45%
17,091
49.87%
21,609
5.35%
2,317
2.74%
1,186
2.60%
1,125
0.00%
0
Placer
39.33%
34,905
50.50%
44,813
3.98%
3,532
3.72%
3,297
2.47%
2,193
0.00%
0
Merced
39.21%
17,848
49.12%
22,360
5.35%
2,434
3.47%
1,579
2.85%
1,298
0.00%
0
Sierra
38.69%
705
48.19%
878
7.14%
130
3.02%
55
2.96%
54
0.00%
0
El Dorado
38.66%
24,601
50.86%
32,368
4.68%
2,975
3.33%
2,116
2.48%
1,576
0.00%
0
Calaveras
38.35%
6,402
49.54%
8,269
5.80%
969
3.35%
559
2.96%
494
0.00%
0
Lassen
38.09%
3,761
48.85%
4,823
7.67%
757
3.33%
329
2.06%
203
0.00%
0
Riverside
38.05%
160,630
51.83%
218,778
4.39%
18,512
3.63%
15,323
2.11%
8,891
0.00%
0
Butte
37.41%
31,505
51.47%
43,338
5.11%
4,306
3.28%
2,762
2.73%
2,296
0.00%
0
Fresno
36.93%
78,321
55.59%
117,891
2.16%
4,587
3.78%
8,009
1.53%
3,248
0.00%
3
S. Bernardino
36.90%
164,620
51.81%
231,143
4.74%
21,138
4.38%
19,555
2.14%
9,558
0.02%
100
Mariposa
36.86%
2,989
51.92%
4,211
5.36%
435
3.86%
313
2.00%
162
0.00%
0
Trinity
35.16%
2,261
49.51%
3,184
7.79%
501
4.15%
267
3.39%
218
0.00%
0
Yuba
34.03%
5,638
52.67%
8,726
7.24%
1,199
3.30%
547
2.76%
458
0.00%
0
Colusa
33.57%
1,859
56.19%
3,112
5.00%
277
3.21%
178
2.02%
112
0.00%
0
Orange
33.41%
317,740
57.89%
550,502
3.20%
30,400
3.21%
30,550
2.29%
21,783
0.00%
2
Kings
33.09%
8,151
57.15%
14,079
3.63%
895
4.85%
1,196
1.28%
315
0.00%
0
Modoc
32.64%
1,429
54.07%
2,367
8.18%
358
3.22%
141
1.90%
83
0.00%
0
Madera
31.89%
9,401
59.74%
17,609
3.42%
1,009
3.82%
1,127
1.12%
329
0.00%
0
Inyo
30.98%
2,563
58.59%
4,847
4.96%
410
3.36%
278
2.12%
175
0.00%
0
Sutter
30.83%
7,719
59.04%
14,783
4.86%
1,216
3.23%
809
2.05%
513
0.00%
0
Tehama
30.71%
6,450
56.62%
11,893
6.47%
1,360
3.08%
647
3.12%
655
0.00%
0
Kern
30.30%
53,141
60.97%
106,916
3.58%
6,286
3.54%
6,200
1.61%
2,823
0.00%
0
Tulare
29.24%
25,311
62.21%
53,856
3.54%
3,066
3.78%
3,273
1.23%
1,067
0.00%
0
Shasta
28.39%
18,868
59.44%
39,507
6.15%
4,085
3.78%
2,515
2.24%
1,492
0.00%
0
Glenn
26.27%
2,271
62.16%
5,373
6.12%
529
3.23%
279
2.22%
192
0.00%
0
See also
References
^ Reinhold, Robert (June 3, 1992).
"THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: California; 2 Women Win Nomination In California Senate Races" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved May 18, 2019 .
^
"Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race - Jun 02, 1992" .
^
"Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jun 02, 1992" .
^
"Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - PFP Primary Race - Jun 02, 1992" .
^
Eu, March Fong (December 12, 1992).
"Statement of Vote General Election November 3, 1992" (PDF) . p. 14 (24 in PDF). Archived from
the original (PDF) on July 30, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008 .
^ Murphy, Dean E.; Shuit, Douglas P. (October 31, 1992).
"U.S. Senate Candidates Crisscross State for Votes Politics: Herschensohn reacts angrily to accusation that he went to strip joint, frequented adult newsstand" .
Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 31, 2010 . A clearly shaken Herschensohn, who has embraced the GOP "family values" platform, at first refused to comment on the accusations, calling them "a pretty desperate thing." But he later conceded that he once visited the Seventh Veil nude-dance club in Hollywood... The authors were LA Times staff writers .
^
Steinberg, Arnold (November 17, 2000).
"Beware the Trickster: Bob Mulholland oversees the recounting of the ballots in Florida" .
National Review . Archived from
the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2008 . That vintage Mulholland maneuver made it all but impossible for Herschensohn to stay on-message during the campaign's crucial closing days.
^
Fund, John (December 5, 2005).
"Arnold's 'Harriet Miers Moment' - Has Gov. Schwarzenegger jumped the shark?" . John Fund on the Trail - WSJ.com .
The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved December 7, 2008 .
^
Salladay, Robert (December 7, 2005).
"Governor Faces Revolt in GOP" . Los Angeles Times . p. A-1. Retrieved December 9, 2008 . Bob Mulholland, publicly accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn of visiting a Sunset Boulevard strip club. Herschensohn had been running as the traditional-values candidate. Amid the controversy, Herschensohn lost the Senate race to Democrat Barbara Boxer, and the GOP was outraged at what it called a "smear campaign." Kennedy suspended Mulholland, but he soon returned to the party.
^
"Archived copy" (PDF) . Archived from
the original (PDF) on July 30, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2009 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link )
External links