2012 United States Senate election in California


The 2012 United States Senate election in California took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The primary election on June 5 took place under California's new blanket primary law, where all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters voted for any candidate listed, or write-in any other candidate. The top two finishers—regardless of party—advanced to the general election in November, even if a candidate managed to receive a majority of the votes cast in the June primary. In the primary, less than 15% of the total 2010 census population voted. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announced her intention to run for a fourth full term in April 2011 and finished first in the blanket primary with 49.5% of the vote. The second-place finisher was Republican candidate and autism activist Elizabeth Emken, who won 12.7% of the vote.
Feinstein ultimately defeated Emken in the general election on November 6, winning 62.5% of the vote to Emken's 37.5%. Feinstein's total of 7.86 million popular votes was the most ever received by a candidate for U.S. Senate in American history until Adam Schiff won the same seat with over 9 million votes in 2024. For a full decade, Emken was the only Republican candidate to have advanced to a general U.S. Senate election in California, as only Democratic candidates advanced to the general election in 2016 and 2018; however, this streak was broken 10 years later in 2022.

Primary

Candidates

Democratic Party

Despite Don J. Grundmann running, the American Independent Party gave their party endorsement to Republican Robert Lauten.

Polling

Results

Election contest

In July 2012, Taitz sued to block the certification of the primary election results, alleging "rampant election fraud", but her suit was denied.

General election

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Candidates

  • Dianne Feinstein, incumbent U.S. Senator
  • Elizabeth Emken, former Vice President of Autism Speaks

    Debates

No debates were scheduled. Senator Feinstein decided to focus on her own campaign rather than debate her challenger.

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Feinstein won 41 of the 53 congressional districts, including three held by Republicans.
DistrictFeinsteinEmkenRepresentative
42%58%Doug LaMalfa
73%27%Jared Huffman
56%44%John Garamendi
41%59%Tom McClintock
72%28%Mike Thompson
71%29%Doris Matsui
53%47%Ami Bera
43%57%Paul Cook
60%40%Jerry McNerney
52%48%Jeff Denham
72%28%George Miller
89%11%Nancy Pelosi
91%9%Barbara Lee
79%21%Jackie Speier
71%29%Eric Swalwell
59%41%Jim Costa
75%25%Mike Honda
72%28%Anna Eshoo
74%26%Zoe Lofgren
73%27%Sam Farr
56%44%David Valadao
43%57%Devin Nunes
38%62%Kevin McCarthy
56%44%Lois Capps
49%51%Buck McKeon
56%44%Julia Brownley
65%35%Judy Chu
73%27%Adam Schiff
78%22%Tony Cárdenas
69%31%Brad Sherman
59%41%Gary Miller
67%33%Grace Napolitano
65%35%Henry Waxman
85%15%Xavier Becerra
68%32%Gloria Negrete McLeod
54%46%Raul Ruiz
86%14%Karen Bass
67%33%Linda Sánchez
49%51%Ed Royce
81%19%Lucille Roybal-Allard
63%37%Mark Takano
43%57%Ken Calvert
78%22%Maxine Waters
85%15%Janice Hahn
44%56%John B. T. Campbell III
63%37%Loretta Sánchez
61%39%Alan Lowenthal
45%55%Dana Rohrabacher
47%53%Darrell Issa
40%60%Duncan Hunter
70%30%Juan Vargas
54%46%Scott Peters
63%37%Susan Davis