2000 United States Senate election in California

The 2000 U.S. Senate election in California was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein won her second full term.

2000 United States Senate election in California

← 1994 November 7, 2000 (2000-11-07) 2006 →
 
Nominee Dianne Feinstein Tom Campbell
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 5,932,522 3,886,853
Percentage 55.84% 36.59%

County results
Feinstein:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Campbell:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Dianne Feinstein
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Dianne Feinstein
Democratic

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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  • Dianne Feinstein, incumbent Senator since 1992
  • Michael Schmier, Emeryville attorney and candidate for California Attorney General in 1998

Results

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2000 U.S. Senate Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dianne Feinstein (incumbent) 3,759,560 95.50%
Democratic Michael Schmier 181,104 4.50%
Total votes 3,940,664 100.00%

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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2000 U.S. Senate Republican Party primary in California
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Campbell 1,697,208 56.17%
Republican Ray Haynes 679,034 22.47%
Republican Bill Horn 453,630 15.01%
Republican John M. Brown 68,415 2.26%
Republican Linh Dao 64,559 2.14%
Republican James Peter Gough 58,853 1.95%
Total votes 3,021,699 100.00%

Other nominations

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Green

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2000 U.S. Senate Green Party primary in California
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Medea Benjamin 99,716 73.95%
Green Jan B. Tucker 35,124 26.05%
Total votes 134,840 100.00%

Reform

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2000 U.S. Senate Reform Party primary in California
Party Candidate Votes %
Reform Jose Luis Olivares Camahort 46,278 70.34%
Reform Valli "Sharp" Sharpe 19,516 29.66%
Total votes 65,794 100.00%

Libertarian

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2000 Libertarian U.S. Senate primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Gail Lightfoot 120,622 100.00%
Total votes 120,622 100.00%

American Independent

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2000 American Independent U.S. Senate primary
Party Candidate Votes %
American Independent Diane Beall Templin 38,836 100.00%
Total votes 38,836 100.00%

Natural Law

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2000 Natural Law U.S. Senate primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Natural Law Brian M. Rees 26,382 100.00%
Total votes 26,382 100.00%

General election

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Campaign

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Despite touting his service as a moderate Republican representing a strongly Democratic district, Campbell was underfunded and a decided underdog against the popular, heavily financed Feinstein. By February, he spent barely $1 million without any PAC money.[2] Campbell has generally supported gay rights and abortion.[3] He also opposes the War on Drugs and calls himself a "maverick", similar to U.S. Senator John McCain.[4] Campbell was easily defeated, losing by over 19 points.

Debates

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Results

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2000 U.S. Senate election, California
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dianne Feinstein (incumbent) 5,932,522 55.84%
Republican Tom Campbell 3,886,853 36.59%
Green Medea Susan Benjamin 326,828 3.08%
Libertarian Gail Lightfoot 187,718 1.77%
American Independent Diane Beall Templin 134,598 1.27%
Reform Jose Luis Olivares Camahort 96,552 0.91%
Natural Law Brian M. Rees 58,537 0.55%
Invalid or blank votes 519,233 4.66%
Total votes 11,142,841 100.00%
Turnout   51.92
Democratic hold

Results breakdown

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Final results from the Secretary of State of California.[5]

County Feinstein Campbell Benjamin Others
Share Votes Share Votes Share Votes Share Votes
Alameda 67.66% 328,355 22.57% 109,517 6.74% 32,701 3.03% 14,726
Alpine 43.62% 253 41.72% 242 4.48% 26 10.17% 59
Amador 43.85% 6,671 49.32% 7,502 1.70% 259 5.13% 780
Butte 41.52% 34,117 47.41% 38,961 5.52% 4,540 5.54% 4,555
Calaveras 42.31% 7,852 48.42% 8,986 2.42% 449 6.85% 1,271
Colusa 41.16% 2,250 53.70% 2,936 0.91% 50 4.23% 231
Contra Costa 61.60% 232,109 33.23% 125,188 2.30% 8,670 2.87% 10,821
Del Norte 44.91% 3,670 44.93% 3,672 3.10% 253 7.06% 577
El Dorado 40.70% 28,873 51.72% 36,684 2.52% 1,785 5.06% 3,591
Fresno 52.87% 113,228 40.39% 86,502 1.50% 3,210 5.25% 11,235
Glenn 38.18% 3,282 54.26% 4,664 1.54% 132 6.03% 518
Humboldt 46.99% 25,788 36.23% 19,882 11.20% 6,145 5.59% 3,069
Imperial 56.17% 15,937 34.07% 9,666 1.62% 461 8.14% 2,311
Inyo 35.15% 2,711 57.02% 4,397 2.71% 209 5.12% 395
Kern 43.26% 77,676 50.44% 90,564 1.09% 1,949 5.21% 9,360
Kings 48.49% 13,402 44.31% 12,246 0.93% 256 6.28% 1,735
Lake 54.74% 11,410 37.55% 7,826 3.15% 656 4.56% 951
Lassen 35.56% 3,673 54.39% 5,618 1.60% 165 8.46% 874
Los Angeles 64.40% 1,677,668 28.55% 743,872 2.78% 72,312 4.28% 111,402
Madera 43.55% 14,123 48.75% 15,810 1.70% 550 6.01% 1,950
Marin 65.25% 79,421 26.35% 32,077 6.33% 7,699 2.07% 2,524
Mariposa 40.49% 3,195 48.63% 3,837 2.72% 215 8.15% 643
Mendocino 50.99% 16,981 31.54% 10,503 12.14% 4,044 5.32% 1,773
Merced 51.92% 25,426 40.04% 19,612 1.47% 721 6.57% 3,216
Modoc 30.81% 1,221 60.91% 2,414 1.56% 62 6.71% 266
Mono 42.56% 1,818 47.68% 2,037 4.12% 176 5.64% 241
Monterey 57.96% 67,401 35.36% 41,113 2.94% 3,420 3.74% 4,350
Napa 56.70% 28,884 36.20% 18,442 3.24% 1,652 3.85% 1,961
Nevada 41.41% 19,354 49.41% 23,095 4.78% 2,235 4.40% 2,057
Orange 42.72% 403,123 49.95% 471,410 1.85% 17,452 5.48% 51,743
Placer 40.95% 47,169 52.25% 60,182 1.97% 2,264 4.83% 5,569
Plumas 40.76% 4,075 51.23% 5,122 2.57% 257 5.44% 544
Riverside 48.28% 210,235 44.80% 195,085 1.52% 6,632 5.39% 23,484
Sacramento 54.27% 228,992 38.71% 163,343 2.61% 11,001 4.41% 18,623
San Benito 55.04% 9,170 39.29% 6,545 1.83% 305 3.84% 640
San Bernardino 49.13% 200,558 43.40% 177,158 1.81% 7,376 5.67% 23,145
San Diego 51.34% 466,461 40.76% 370,287 2.24% 20,340 5.66% 51,443
San Francisco 72.26% 222,787 15.27% 47,072 10.50% 32,377 1.97% 6,082
San Joaquin 52.65% 86,731 41.23% 67,907 1.29% 2,130 4.83% 7,954
San Luis Obispo 45.14% 47,976 46.15% 49,055 3.59% 3,814 5.13% 5,448
San Mateo 64.80% 165,216 29.92% 76,273 2.85% 7,278 2.43% 6,191
Santa Barbara 49.93% 75,357 40.03% 60,417 5.78% 8,718 4.26% 6,422
Santa Clara 59.62% 320,400 34.97% 187,953 2.29% 12,329 3.12% 16,747
Santa Cruz 56.78% 60,853 30.36% 32,537 9.63% 10,321 3.22% 3,453
Shasta 36.84% 24,027 55.01% 35,884 1.56% 1,016 6.59% 4,299
Sierra 36.63% 666 53.91% 980 2.59% 47 6.88% 125
Siskiyou 38.40% 7,476 51.61% 10,048 2.14% 417 7.85% 1,529
Solano 60.03% 74,414 33.43% 41,449 1.87% 2,316 4.67% 5,791
Sonoma 60.96% 118,455 29.46% 57,244 6.05% 11,765 3.52% 6,839
Stanislaus 48.24% 60,610 44.51% 55,919 1.54% 1,937 5.71% 7,171
Sutter 39.51% 10,326 55.08% 14,394 1.10% 288 4.30% 1,125
Tehama 38.27% 7,870 52.81% 10,859 1.42% 291 7.50% 1,543
Trinity 40.35% 2,307 48.47% 2,771 4.62% 264 6.56% 375
Tulare 45.52% 40,117 47.19% 41,587 1.02% 901 6.26% 5,519
Tuolumne 42.97% 10,028 48.78% 11,385 2.40% 560 5.85% 1,366
Ventura 50.22% 138,836 42.85% 118,463 2.20% 6,073 4.73% 13,067
Yolo 58.18% 35,193 32.28% 19,528 5.06% 3,060 4.48% 2,709
Yuba 40.18% 6,345 51.49% 8,131 1.88% 297 6.44% 1,017
 
 

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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Green Party candidate Medea Susan Benjamin finished second (ahead of Republican Tom Campbell) in six Northern California municipalities, most of which are in the San Francisco Bay Area: Oakland (10.18%), Emeryville (13.35%), Albany (14.37%), Fairfax (15.99%), Berkeley (22.23%), and Arcata (26.77%). She tied with Jones for second place in Point Arena with 21.71% of the vote.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.sos.ca.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Krikorian, Greg; Pyle, Amy (February 17, 2000). "CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / U.S. SENATE; Republican Seeks to Enliven Race With Multimedia Ads; Rep. Campbell, seeking the GOP nomination for a chance to challenge Feinstein, will use TV commercials to direct viewers to more economical Internet campaign". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. ^ "SENATE CANDIDATE PROMOTES MORE TOLERANT REPUBLICAN IMAGE TOM CAMPBELL WILL SPEAK PRO-CHOICE AT CONVENTION. ..." The Fresno Bee. July 27, 2000.
  4. ^ "CAMPBELL SPEAKS TO NATIONAL AUDIENCE". The Sacramento Bee. July 31, 2000.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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