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2005 California's 5th congressional district special election

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2005 California's 5th congressional district special election

← 2004 March 8, 2005 2006 →
 
Nominee Doris Matsui Julie Padilla
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 56,175 7,158
Percentage 67.7% 8.6%

U.S. Representative before election

Bob Matsui
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Doris Matsui
Democratic

On March 8, 2005, a special election was held in the California's 5th congressional district to choose a U.S. Representative to replace Bob Matsui, who had died of pneumonia shortly after being re-elected in the 2004 elections. Matsui's wife, Doris, was quickly able to win support from the Democratic Party officials, and ended up winning over two-thirds of the vote in the special primary election, meaning a run-off would not be needed. As of 2021, this is the last time a widow succeeded their spouse in Congress.[a]

Results

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California's 5th congressional district special election, 2005[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Doris Matsui 56,175 67.65
Democratic Julie Padilla 7,158 8.62
Republican John Flynn 6,559 7.90
Republican Serge Chernay 3,742 4.51
Republican Michael O'Brien 2,591 3.12
Republican Shane Singh 1,753 2.11
Republican Bruce Stevens 1,124 1.35
Green Pat Driscoll 976 1.18
Independent Leonard Padilla 916 1.10
Democratic Charles Pineda 659 0.79
Libertarian Gale Morgan 451 0.54
Peace and Freedom John Reiger 286 0.34
Democratic Lara Shapiro (write-in) 6 0.01
Invalid or blank votes 637 0.77
Total votes 83,033 100.0
Turnout   27.72
Democratic hold

References

[edit]
  1. ^ In 2020, Luke Letlow was elected to represent Louisiana but died before he could be sworn in. The special election to fill his vacant seat was won by his widow, Julia Letlow.
  1. ^ "Special Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 29, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.