CALIFORNIA 55 Electoral Votes
California went from 54 electoral votes to 55 as a result of the 2000 Census
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Calif. Secretary of State)
Total Population, July 1, 2004 est. 35,893,799
Eligible, Oct. 18, 2004 22,075,036
Total Registration, Oct. 18, 2004 16,557,273 (75.0%)
Dem. 7,120,425 (43.00%)   Rep. 5,745,518 (34.70%)   AIP 326,763 (1.97%)   Grn. 160,579 (0.97%)   Lib. 89,617 (0.54%)   NL 28,779 (0.17%)   P&F 68,100 (0.41%)  Misc. 91,581 (0.55%)   Decline 2,925,901 (17.67%)
California has: 58 counties.
Five largest counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Santa Clara, San Bernardino.
Five largest cities: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Long Beach.

Government
Governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) elected Oct. 7, 2003, sworn in Nov. 17, 2003.
State Legislature: California State Assembly: 80 seats  California State Senate: 40 seats
Local: Counties, Cities   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 32D, 21R - 1. M.Thompson (D) | 2. W.Herger (R) | 3. D.Ose (R) | 4. J.Doolittle (R) | 5. R.Matsui (D) | 6. L.Woolsey (D) | 7. Geo.Miller (D) | 8. N.Pelosi (D) | 9. B.Lee (D) | 10. E.Tauscher (D) | 11. R.Pombo (R) | 12. T.Lantos (D) | 13. P.Stark (D) | 14. A.Eshoo (D) | 15. M.Honda (D | 16. Z.Lofgren (D) | 17. S.Farr (D) | 18. D.Cardoza (D) | 19. G.Radanovich (R) | 20. C.Dooley (D) | 21. D.Nunes (R) | 22. B.Thomas (R) | 23. L.Capps (D) | 24. E.Gallegly (R) | 25. H.McKeon (R) | 26. D.Dreier (R) | 27. B.Sherman (D) | 28. H.Berman (D) | 29. A.Schiff (D) | 30. H.Waxman (D) | 31. X.Becerra (D) | 32. H.Solis (D) | 33. D.Watson (D) | 34. L.Roybal-Allard (D) | 35. M.Waters (D) | 36. J.Harman (D) | 37. J.Millender-McDonald (D) | 38. G.Napolitano (D) | 39. L.Sanchez (D) | 40. Ed. Royce (R) | 41. J.Lewis (R) | 42. GaryMiller (R) | 43. J.Baca (D) | 44. K.Calvert (R) | 45. M.Bono (R) | 46. D.Rohrabacher (R) | 47. L.Sanchez (D) | 48. C.Cox (R) | 49. D.Issa (R) | 50. R.Cunningham (R) | 51. B.Filner (D) | 52. D.Hunter (R) | 53. S.Davis (D) *1 new seat in 2002 as a result of the 2000 Census. >>
U.S. Senate: Dianne Feinstein (D) re-elected in 2000, Barbara Boxer (D) re-elected in 2004.
Sen. Barbara Boxer was elected to a third term, defeating former Sec. of State Bill Jones by a margin of 57.8% to 37.8%.  Two new House members were elected to fill seats opened by retirements; Dan Lungren (R) succeeds Rep. Doug Ose (R) in the 3rd CD and Jim Costa (D) succeeds Rep. Cal Dooley (D) in the 20th CD.

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Rough & Tumble
 
 


The Golden State

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Official Results 24,035 of 24,035 precincts
+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
6,737,355
(54.41)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 
5,501,496
(44.43)
Peroutka/Baldwin (AIP) 26,580 (0.21)
Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 40,598
(0.33)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)
50,101
(0.40)
Peltier/Jordan (P&F)
27,548
(0.22)
Total........12,383,678
 
2004 Overview
Although Republicans had made some headway by electing Gov. Schwarzenegger and cutting the Democrats' registration edge, California remained a "safe Kerry" state.  Kerry gained a plurality of 1,235,859 votes (9.98 percentage points); he won in 22 counties to Bush's 36.
General Election Details
Kerry/Democrats  |  Bush-Cheney '04
Past Results
1996
Clinton (Dem.).....5,119,835
(51.10)
Dole (Rep.)..........3,828,380
(38.21)
Perot (Ref.).............697,847
(6.96)
Nader (Grn.)...........237,016
(2.36)
Others (4+w/ins).....136,406
(1.36)
Total........10,019,484

1992
Clinton (Dem.).....5,121,325
(46.01)
Bush (Rep.).........3,630,574
(32.61)
Perot (Ind.)..........2,296,006
(20.62)
Others (3+w/ins).......83,816
(0.75)
Total........11,131,721

2000
+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
5,861,203
(53.45)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
4,567,429
(41.65)
Phillips/Frazier (AIP)
17,042
(0.16)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
418,707
(3.82)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
45,520
(0.42)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)
10,934
(0.09)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
44,987
(0.41)
W.M.Kenyon, Sr. (Ind.w/i)
6
David McReynolds (Ind.w/i)
28
Total........10,965,856

Total Registration: 15,707,307...Dem. 7,134,601 (45.4%)   Rep. 5,485,492 (34.9%)   AIP 321,838 (2.1%)   Grn. 138,734 (0.9%)   Lib. 94,900 (0.6%)   Ref. 79,152 (0.5%)   NL 58,275 (0.4%)   Misc. 137,999 (0.9%)   Decline 2,256,316 (14.4%)

Total Votes Not Cast in Presidential Race 177,010 (1.6%)

2,739,155 of the 11,142,843 total votes cast were by absentee ballot -- 24.58%.

Turnout as a percentage of voting age population was 44.80% or 44.09% if one excludes the 177,010 votes not cast in the presidential race.  (U.S. avg. 53.76).

2000 Overview
Brash talk and a significant investment of resources by the Bush campaign and the Republican party failed to pry California's 54 electors out of the Democratic column.  As in other recent statewide elections, the Democrats' registration edge of about 10% held solid; Vice President Gore won with a plurality of 1,293,774 votes (11.80 percentage points).  Los Angeles County weighed in heavily, producing a plurality of more than 800,000 votes for Gore.  Overall, Gore won in 20 counties to Bush's 38.  Early in the campaign it appeared Ralph Nader might be a factor.  From Aug. 1 to Election Day he spent 13 days campaigning in Calif., but he ended up not having much impact on Gore's showing.  Pat Buchanan failed to make a mark despite significant TV buys. 
General Election Activity

Other Races: Four U.S. House seats changed from Republican to Democratic control, bringing the state's House delegation from 28D and 24R to 32D and 20R.  In the 15th (San Jose), Assemblyman Michael Honda (D) took the seat vacated by Rep. Tom Campbell (R) 54%-42%; in the 27th (Pasadena/San Gabriel), State Senator Adam Schiff (D) defeated incumbent Rep. James Rogan (R), one of the House impeachment managers, 53%-44% in a very costly campaign (the two raised over $10 million); in the 36th (Torrance), Jane Harman (D) narrowly defeated incumbent Rep. Steve Kuykendall (R) to reclaim her former seat, and in the 49th (San Diego), Assemblywoman Susan A. Davis defeated incumbent Rep. Brian Bilbray (R) 50%-46%.  The 20th (lower San Joaquin Valley) was also very closely fought, but Cal Dooley (D) successfully fended off a challenge from Rich Rodriguez (R).  In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) easily overcame a challenge from Rep. Tom Campbell (R), winning with a plurality of more than 2 million votes.


Presidential and Statewide Primary -- Tuesday, March 2, 2004
Specifications for the parties' presidential primaries are set out California law, Elections Code Division 6, Part 1.

Ballot Qualification:
Two ways to qualify for the ballot: (1) Secretary of State determines candidate is generally recognized; or (2) circulate nominating petitions.  "Selection is based on any combination of several criteria, including but not limited to: being generally recognized as seeking the office; qualifying for federal matching funds; appearing in public opinion polls, candidates' forums, debates, etc.; being on the ballot in other states' primaries; actively campaigning in California; having a campaign office in California." [2004 Presidential Primary Candidate Qualifications and Requirements (2)]. On December 24, 2003 Secretary of State Kevin Shelley certified the names of candidates he had selected to appear on the March 2, 2004 primary ballot.  The list had 10 Democrats, 1 Republican, 1 American Independent, 4 Greens, 3 Libertarians, and 2 Peace & Freedom candidates.

Deadline to register to vote in the March 2 primary is February 16, 2004.

Total Registration, February 17, 2004: 15,091,160
Dem. 6,518,631 (43.20%)   Rep. 5,364,832 (35.55%)   AIP 291,055 (1.93%)   Grn. 157,749 (1.05%)   Lib. 86,053 (0.57%)   NL 30,597 (0.20%)   P&F 70,475 (0.47%)  Misc. 91,729 (0.61%)   Decline 2,480,039 (16.43%)

Democrats

EDWARDS KERRY KUCINICH   former GEPHARDT LIEBERMAN CLARK DEAN
 
-Nonpartisan voters can participate in the Democratic primary by selecting Democratic on the ballot.

-By March 2, the California Democratic presidential primary was almost an afterthought.  The two remaining major candidates, Sen. Kerry and Sen. Edwards, did not spend much time in the state, and three state propositions -- Prop. 56 (legislature could enact tax bills with 55 percent vote) and the Schwarzenegger-backed Prop. 57 (a one time bond of up to $15 billion) and Prop. 58 (balanced budget act)  -- drew most of the attention.

 

100.0% ( 21796 of 21796 ) precincts reporting
as of Mar 16, 2004 at 2:19 pm 
Wesley Clark
 49,176
 1.6%
Howard Dean
 125,651
4.3%
John Edwards
 590,738
19.8%
Dick Gephardt
 21,243
0.7%
+John F. Kerry
 1,927,058
64.5%
Dennis J. Kucinich
 137,306
4.6%
Lyndon LaRouche
 7,592
0.2%
Joe Lieberman
 50,782
1.6%
Carol Moseley Braun
 23,345
0.7%
Al Sharpton
 56,922
1.9%
Total
2,989,813
Order of candidates differed by assembly district.  A random alphabet drawing was held Dec. 11, 2003 in the Secretary of State's office; the random alphabet was then rotated by the 80 assembly districts to ensure all candidates had the opportunity to appear first.
Delegates
440 Delegates
61 Alternates
BASE DELEGATES (322)
District level 241
At-large 81
Pledged PLEOs 48
Add-on unpledged 5
AUTO UNPLEDGED (65)
DNC Members 31
Congressional Members 33
Dist. Party Leader 1
CDP Delegate Selection Plan.
Details

Republicans  
-Nonpartisan voters can participate in the Republican primary by selecting Republican on the ballot.
George W. Bush
 2,142,700
 100%
173 Delegates
170 Alternates
District level 159
At-large 14

American Independent, Greens, Libertarians, Peace & Freedom
American Independent: Michael A. Peroutka... 25,180 (100%)
Greens: Peter Miguel Camejo... 32,064 (75.9%)    David Cobb... 4,869 (11.5%)    Kent Mesplay... 857 (2.0%)    Lorna Salzman... 4,496 (10.6%)
Libertarians: Michael Badnarik... 3,183 (16.5%)    Gary Nolan... 11,416 (59.4%)   Aaron Russo... 4,643 (24.1%)
Peace & Freedom: Walter F. "Walt" Brown... 1,869  (41.0%)    Leonard Peltier... 2,682 (59.0%)
 

Historical Notes.
On June 26, 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the blanket primary system used in California's March 7, 2000 primary in California Democratic Party v. Jones on the grounds that it violated "a political party's First Amendment right of free association."

On Sept. 30, 2002 Gov. Gray Davis vetoed SB1975, a bill introduced by Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Orange County) to keep the presidential primary on the first Tuesday in March of presidential election years, but separate the statewide primary election and move it to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June (Johnson's initial bill had August).  Johnson sought to create a dual or bifurcated primary primarily to address the problem of low voter turnout--the statewide primary comes a full eight months before the general election.  However, in his veto message Gov. Davis noted the statewide cost estimated at as much as $10 million.
 

2000 page >

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