2004 United States Senate election in California

The 2004 United States Senate election in California took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer ran for re-election and defeated Republican former Secretary of State Bill Jones. Boxer's 6.96 million votes set the all-time record for the most votes cast for one candidate in one state in one election, although it was surpassed by Senator Dianne Feinstein's 7.75 million votes in 2012.

2004 United States Senate election in California

November 2, 2004

Nominee Barbara Boxer Bill Jones Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 6,955,728 4,555,922 Percentage 57.7% 37.8%

County Results Boxer:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Jones:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Barbara Boxer Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Barbara Boxer, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

2004 United States Senate Democratic primary, California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer (Incumbent)	2,566,298	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Danney Ball, activist
• Toni Casey, former Mayor of Los Altos Hills[1]
• Barry L. Hatch, activist
• Bill Jones, former Secretary of State of California
• Howard Kaloogian, former State Assemblyman
• Rosario Marin, former Treasurer of the United States
• James Stewart, businessman[2]
• Tim Stoen, Assistant District Attorney
• Bill Quraishi, businessman[2]
• John Van Zandt, businessman[2]

Results

2004 United States Senate Republican primary, California

Candidate		Votes	%
Bill Jones		1,015,748	44.81%
Rosario Marin		454,176	20.03%
Howard Kaloogian		253,331	11.17%
Toni Casey		142,080	6.27%
Tim Stoen		124,940	5.51%
James Stewart		78,264	3.45%
Barry L. Hatch		71,244	3.14%
John M. Van Zandt		56,925	2.51%
Danney Ball		37,745	1.66%
Bill Quraishi		32,515	1.43%
Total votes		2,266,968	100.00%

Third party primaries

American Independent

2004 United States AI Senate primary, California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	American Independent	Don J. Grundmann	32,025	100.00%

Libertarian

2004 United States Senate Libertarian primary, California

Candidate		Votes	%
Jim Gray		13,656	57.30%
Gail Lightfoot		10,177	42.70%
Total votes		23,833	100.00%

Peace and Freedom

2004 United States PF Senate primary, California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Peace and Freedom	Marsha Feinland	4,864	100.00%

General election

Major

• Barbara Boxer (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Bill Jones (R), former California Secretary of State

Minor

• Marsha Feinland (PF), perennial candidate
• James P. Gray (L), Superior Court jurist
• Don J. Grundmann (AI)

Campaign

Boxer originally had decided to retire in 2004 but changed her mind to "fight for the right to dissent" against conservatives like Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Jones was widely considered as the underdog.[3] Jones got a major endorsement form the popular Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.[4] The two major candidates had a debate. Pre-election polling had Boxer leading in double digits.[5] But he never released a single TV ad. Boxer portrayed Jones as too conservative for California, citing his votes in the California Assembly (1982 to 1994) against gun control, increased minimum wage, support for offshore drilling, and a loosening of environmental regulations.[6]

Fundraising

Jones raised about $700,000 more than Boxer during the third quarter, pulling in $2.5 million to Boxer's $1.8 million. But overall, Boxer has raised $16 million to Jones' $6.2 million. And Boxer has spent about $7 million on radio and television ads alone.[7]

Overall

The election was not close, with Boxer winning by an authoritative 20 point margin. Jones only performed well in rural parts of the state. Boxer on the other hand won almost all major metropolitan areas in the state. The race was called right when the polls closed at 11:00 P.M. EST, and 7:00 P.M. PTZ. Jones conceded defeat to Boxer at 11:12 P.M. EST, and 7:12 PTZ.

2004 United States Senate election, California[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer (Incumbent)	6,955,728	57.71%
	Republican	Bill Jones	4,555,922	37.80%
	Peace and Freedom	Marsha Feinland	243,846	2.02%
	Libertarian	James P. "Jim" Gray	216,522	1.80%
	American Independent	Don J. Grundmann	81,244	0.67%
	No party	Dennis Richter (write-in)	43	0.00%
	No party	Howard Johnson (write-in)	8	0.00%
	No party	John Emery Jones (write-in)	2	0.00%
Invalid or blank votes			536,388	4.26%
Total votes			12,589,703	100.00%
Turnout				57.03%
	Democratic hold

By county

Final results from the Secretary of State of California.[9]

County	Boxer	Votes	Jones	Votes	Feinland	Votes	Others	Votes
San Francisco	82.67%	277,193	12.83%	43,029	2.15%	7,220	2.34%	7,862
Alameda	75.66%	403,892	20.23%	107,966	2.22%	11,851	1.89%	10,103
Marin	70.86%	94,164	25.81%	34,301	1.44%	1,915	1.89%	2,505
San Mateo	70.53%	196,285	26.29%	73,171	1.33%	3,715	1.84%	5,126
Santa Cruz	70.58%	84,840	23.49%	28,239	2.77%	3,329	3.15%	3,791
Los Angeles	66.75%	1,940,493	28.29%	822,351	2.36%	68,743	2.60%	75,449
Santa Clara	66.00%	380,551	29.83%	172,008	1.66%	9,550	2.51%	14,487
Sonoma	65.67%	143,124	29.57%	64,438	2.28%	4,962	2.49%	5,419
Contra Costa	63.49%	258,905	33.24%	135,559	1.48%	6,044	1.78%	7,277
Monterey	62.31%	76,647	32.96%	40,547	1.84%	2,263	2.89%	3,560
Yolo	61.94%	44,085	34.05%	24,234	1.88%	1,340	2.13%	1,518
Mendocino	61.87%	23,415	29.41%	11,131	2.76%	1,044	5.96%	2,254
Solano	61.32%	89,779	35.07%	51,354	1.61%	2,355	2.00%	2,929
Napa	60.30%	33,577	35.94%	20,012	1.59%	884	2.17%	1,208
Humboldt	58.76%	38,016	34.61%	22,394	3.47%	2,246	3.16%	2,044
Imperial	57.65%	19,498	36.06%	12,195	3.43%	1,159	2.87%	971
Lake	56.32%	13,812	39.22%	9,619	1.91%	469	2.55%	625
San Benito	55.82%	10,349	39.73%	7,365	1.96%	363	2.49%	462
Santa Barbara	55.10%	91,055	40.02%	66,146	2.03%	3,347	2.85%	4,717
Sacramento	54.16%	252,016	42.34%	196,984	1.50%	6,995	2.00%	9,283
Alpine	53.90%	373	41.76%	289	2.31%	16	2.02%	14
San Joaquin	53.00%	99,074	42.98%	80,350	1.92%	3,582	2.10%	3,921
Ventura	52.13%	159,920	43.66%	133,917	1.84%	5,630	2.37%	7,284
San Diego	51.45%	565,457	44.13%	484,948	2.04%	22,431	2.38%	26,125
Mono	49.95%	2,592	44.59%	2,314	2.14%	111	3.31%	172
San Bernardino	49.76%	251,776	45.36%	229,527	2.18%	11,038	2.70%	13,655
Merced	49.65%	27,975	46.18%	26,023	1.95%	1,098	2.22%	1,251
Riverside	47.39%	259,169	48.67%	266,197	1.93%	10,547	2.01%	11,015
Stanislaus	46.93%	67,539	49.70%	71,527	1.61%	2,324	1.75%	2,517
San Luis Obispo	46.49%	58,212	48.48%	60,708	2.12%	2,659	2.91%	3,646
Trinity	46.24%	2,960	47.93%	3,068	2.17%	139	3.66%	234
Del Norte	46.03%	4,264	48.72%	4,513	2.29%	212	2.97%	275
Nevada	45.79%	24,367	49.46%	26,321	1.90%	1,013	2.85%	1,518
Fresno	45.36%	109,849	51.59%	124,937	1.61%	3,905	1.44%	3,495
Butte	44.96%	42,512	49.12%	46,446	2.52%	2,385	3.39%	3,204
Tuolumne	44.38%	11,538	52.39%	13,620	1.23%	319	2.00%	519
Orange	43.73%	458,604	50.86%	533,406	1.94%	20,394	3.47%	36,374
Kings	42.71%	13,485	54.07%	17,075	1.71%	539	1.51%	478
Amador	42.16%	7,445	54.15%	9,562	1.53%	271	2.15%	380
Calaveras	42.17%	9,339	53.58%	11,865	1.51%	334	2.75%	608
Inyo	40.68%	3,474	54.37%	4,643	2.08%	178	2.86%	244
Mariposa	40.38%	3,437	55.82%	4,751	1.69%	144	2.10%	179
Siskiyou	39.92%	8,215	54.95%	11,308	1.94%	399	3.18%	655
Placer	39.70%	59,554	56.78%	85,163	1.46%	2,197	2.06%	3,086
Plumas	39.59%	4,347	54.82%	6,019	2.21%	243	3.38%	371
El Dorado	39.58%	33,715	56.09%	47,775	2.05%	1,743	2.29%	1,950
Madera	39.15%	15,058	57.84%	22,249	1.67%	641	1.35%	519
Yuba	38.94%	6,926	55.80%	9,925	2.21%	393	3.05%	542
Kern	38.13%	79,769	56.82%	118,882	2.17%	4,543	2.88%	6,026
Tulare	37.11%	36,181	59.55%	58,066	1.84%	1,798	1.50%	1,464
Colusa	36.61%	2,228	60.10%	3,657	1.23%	75	2.05%	125
Sutter	36.61%	10,864	60.06%	17,824	1.47%	436	1.86%	553
Tehama	36.18%	8,285	58.89%	13,488	1.76%	403	3.17%	726
Shasta	35.21%	26,795	60.00%	45,667	1.86%	1,412	2.94%	2,235
Sierra	34.89%	679	58.74%	1,143	1.90%	37	4.47%	87
Glenn	33.87%	3,147	61.77%	5,739	1.86%	173	2.50%	232
Lassen	32.36%	3,655	62.43%	7,051	1.97%	223	3.24%	366
Modoc	28.48%	1,253	66.27%	2,916	1.52%	67	3.73%	164

See also

• 2004 United States Senate election

References

1. https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sandiego/access/547179671.html?dids=547179671:547179671&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+15%2C+2004&author=Bill+Ainsworth&pub=The+San+Diego+Union+-+Tribune&desc=GOP+race+in+state+draws+little+cash%2C+attention+%7C+4+candidates+seek+chance+to+replace+Boxer+in+Senate&pqatl=google Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
2. "NewsLibrary Search Results". nl.newsbank.com.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2010-09-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "USATODAY.com - Schwarzenegger to endorse Jones for Senate". www.usatoday.com.
5. "CAMPAIGN 2004 / Jones, Boxer mix it up in only live debate / Challenger plays up Schwarzenegger ties, senator counters". sfgate.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-05.
6. https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/688264021.html?dids=688264021:688264021&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+05%2C+2004&author=Scott+Martelle&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=The+State%3B+Bill+Jones'+Campaign+Quandary%3B+With+only+tepid+support+from+Bush%2C+the+GOP+challenger+to+Sen.+Boxer+could+use+a+boost+from+the+governor+--+who+so+far+has+kept+his+distance.&pqatl=google
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2018-05-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "detail.pdf". ca.gov.
9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-07-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• JoinCalifornia 2004 General Election
• SmartVoter.org page on the California Senate race.
• Final results from the Secretary of State of California.