California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

	2022 → ← 2014
California Lieutenant Governor
	Top-two primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: March 9, 2018
	Primary: June 5, 2018; General: November 6, 2018; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Gavin Newsom (Democrat)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in California
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2018; Impact of term limits in 2018; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
California; executive elections
	Governor; Lieutenant governor; Attorney general; Secretary of state; Treasurer; Controller; Insurance commissioner; Superintendent of public instruction; State board of equalization

California held an election for lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 9, 2018.

For more information about the top-two primary election, click here.
For more information about lieutenant gubernatorial elections in 2018, click here.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the election, the sitting lieutenant governor of California was Gavin Newsom (D), who was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Newsom was prevented by term limits from seeking election to a third term in 2018.
Heading into election, California was a Democratic trifecta. It had held this status since Gov. Jerry Brown (D) took office in 2011. California was also a Democratic triplex.
The Democratic presidential candidate won California in each of the past five election cycles. The widest margin of victory was Hillary Clinton's 30 percent margin in 2016 while the narrowest was John Kerry's ten percent margin in 2004.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of California

Eleni Kounalakis defeated Edward Hernandez in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of California on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Eleni Kounalakis (D)	56.6	5,914,068
	Edward Hernandez (D)	43.4	4,543,863

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,457,931 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Lieutenant Governor of California

The following candidates ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of California on June 5, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Eleni Kounalakis (D)	24.2	1,587,940
✔	Edward Hernandez (D)	20.6	1,347,442
	Cole Harris (R)	17.5	1,144,003
	Jeff Bleich (D)	9.9	648,045
	David Fennell (R)	7.9	515,956
	Lydia Ortega (R)	6.4	419,512
	David Hernandez (R)	6.2	404,982
	Gayle McLaughlin (Independent)	4.0	263,364
	Timothy Ferreira (L)	1.5	99,949
	Cameron Gharabiklou (D)	1.2	78,267
	Danny Thomas (Independent)	0.7	44,121

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 6,553,581
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Marjan Fariba (Independent)
Matthew Rizzie (D)

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in California heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in California.
Democrats held 39 of 53 U.S. House seats in California.

State executives

As of May 2018, Democrats held seven of 10 state executive positions and the remaining three positions were officially nonpartisan.
The governor of California was Democrat Jerry Brown.

State legislature

Democrats controlled both chambers of the California State Legislature. They had a 55-25 majority in the state Assembly and a 27-13 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

California was a state government trifecta, meaning that Democrats held the governorship and majorities in the state house and state senate.

2018 elections

See also: California elections, 2018

California held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for California
	California	U.S.
Total population:	38,993,940	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	155,779	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	61.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	5.9%	12.6%
Asian:	13.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.7%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31.4%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,818	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, California had a population of approximately 39,000,000 people, with its three largest cities being Los Angeles (pop. est. 4.0 million), San Diego (pop. est. 1.4 million), and San Jose (pop. est. 1 million).^[1]^[2]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in California from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the California Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in California every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), California 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	61.7%	Donald Trump	31.6%	30.1%
2012	Barack Obama	60.2%	Mitt Romney	37.1%	23.1%
2008	Barack Obama	61.1%	John McCain	37%	24.1%
2004	John Kerry	54.4%	George W. Bush	44.4%	10%
2000	Al Gore	53.5%	George W. Bush	41.7%	11.8%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in California from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), California 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Kamala Harris	61.6%	Loretta Sanchez	38.4%	23.2%
2012	Dianne Feinstein	62.5%	Elizabeth Emken	37.5%	25%
2010	Barbara Boxer	52.2%	Carly Fiorina	42.2%	10%
2006	Dianne Feinstein	59.5%	Richard Mountjoy	35.1%	24.4%
2004	Barbara Boxer	57.8%	Bill Jones	37.8%	20%
2000	Dianne Feinstein	55.9%	Tom Campbell	36.6%	19.3%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in California.

Election results (Governor), California 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Jerry Brown	60%	Neel Kashkari	40%	20%
2010	Jerry Brown	53.8%	Meg Whitman	40.9%	12.9%
2006	Arnold Schwarzenegger	55.9%	Phil Angelides	39.0%	16.9%
2002	Gray Davis	47.3%	Bill Simon	42.4%	4.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent California in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, California 2000-2016
Year	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Balance of power
2016	39	73.5%	14	26.4%	D+25
2014	39	73.5%	14	26.4%	D+25
2012	38	71.7%	15	28.3%	D+23
2010	34	64.1%	19	35.8%	D+15
2008	34	64.1%	19	35.8%	D+15
2006	34	64.1%	19	35.8%	D+15
2004	33	62.3%	20	37.7%	D+13
2002	33	62.3%	20	37.7%	D+13
2000	32	61.5%	20	38.5%	D+12

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

California Party Control: 1992-2024
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Assembly	D	D	D	S	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

There are no Pivot Counties in California. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won California with 61.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 31.6 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, California voted Republican 53.33 percent of the time and Democratic 43.33 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, California voted Democratic all five times. In 2016, California had 55 electoral votes, which was the most of any state. The 55 electoral votes were 10.2 percent of all 538 available electoral votes and were 20.4 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in California. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[3]^[4]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 58 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 38.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 66 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 40.3 points. Clinton won 11 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 22 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 12.2 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 14 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 13 points.

2016 Presidential Results by State Assembly District
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	39.63%	57.31%	R+17.7	36.09%	56.75%	R+20.7	R
2	64.68%	30.51%	D+34.2	62.20%	28.98%	D+33.2	D
3	42.41%	54.46%	R+12.1	39.47%	53.31%	R+13.8	R
4	63.16%	33.86%	D+29.3	63.03%	29.95%	D+33.1	D
5	41.27%	55.92%	R+14.7	38.51%	54.85%	R+16.3	R
6	38.59%	59.09%	R+20.5	41.17%	52.02%	R+10.9	R
7	67.59%	29.61%	D+38	67.63%	25.69%	D+41.9	D
8	51.72%	45.62%	D+6.1	51.77%	41.03%	D+10.7	D
9	60.56%	37.52%	D+23	61.47%	32.89%	D+28.6	D
10	73.76%	23.28%	D+50.5	75.65%	17.96%	D+57.7	D
11	60.96%	36.87%	D+24.1	58.86%	35.17%	D+23.7	D
12	45.19%	52.50%	R+7.3	43.11%	51.05%	R+7.9	R
13	64.23%	33.88%	D+30.4	62.97%	31.79%	D+31.2	D
14	68.80%	28.72%	D+40.1	69.55%	24.47%	D+45.1	D
15	86.82%	9.56%	D+77.3	87.39%	7.04%	D+80.4	D
16	57.74%	40.10%	D+17.6	64.47%	29.23%	D+35.2	R
17	87.07%	9.36%	D+77.7	88.12%	6.95%	D+81.2	D
18	86.89%	10.23%	D+76.7	85.89%	8.44%	D+77.5	D
19	78.94%	18.38%	D+60.6	81.63%	13.34%	D+68.3	D
20	75.74%	22.15%	D+53.6	75.52%	19.12%	D+56.4	D
21	55.61%	42.03%	D+13.6	54.63%	39.46%	D+15.2	D
22	71.43%	26.31%	D+45.1	75.16%	19.75%	D+55.4	D
23	43.46%	54.71%	R+11.2	43.95%	50.78%	R+6.8	R
24	72.16%	24.96%	D+47.2	78.19%	15.93%	D+62.3	D
25	72.40%	25.26%	D+47.1	73.61%	20.90%	D+52.7	D
26	41.15%	56.68%	R+15.5	41.54%	52.93%	R+11.4	R
27	76.36%	21.54%	D+54.8	77.76%	17.29%	D+60.5	D
28	66.64%	30.77%	D+35.9	70.63%	23.08%	D+47.6	D
29	69.95%	26.66%	D+43.3	70.00%	22.96%	D+47	D
30	66.99%	30.86%	D+36.1	66.70%	27.32%	D+39.4	D
31	61.98%	36.21%	D+25.8	62.13%	32.93%	D+29.2	D
32	56.20%	41.81%	D+14.4	56.50%	37.98%	D+18.5	D
33	41.80%	55.51%	R+13.7	40.02%	54.61%	R+14.6	R
34	33.96%	63.85%	R+29.9	34.07%	60.21%	R+26.1	R
35	47.82%	49.42%	R+1.6	49.57%	43.43%	D+6.1	R
36	48.79%	48.48%	D+0.3	49.94%	43.86%	D+6.1	R
37	60.97%	36.28%	D+24.7	64.27%	29.21%	D+35.1	D
38	46.73%	50.84%	R+4.1	49.64%	44.39%	D+5.2	R
39	73.75%	23.67%	D+50.1	74.64%	19.80%	D+54.8	D
40	53.14%	44.72%	D+8.4	54.08%	40.01%	D+14.1	R
41	59.74%	37.72%	D+22	62.82%	31.27%	D+31.5	D
42	44.98%	52.93%	R+7.9	45.61%	49.70%	R+4.1	R
43	67.35%	29.62%	D+37.7	68.94%	25.45%	D+43.5	D
44	52.37%	45.51%	D+6.9	57.12%	36.99%	D+20.1	D
45	63.46%	34.12%	D+29.3	67.36%	27.39%	D+40	D
46	73.73%	23.65%	D+50.1	76.20%	18.48%	D+57.7	D
47	71.49%	26.54%	D+44.9	70.10%	24.80%	D+45.3	D
48	64.08%	33.44%	D+30.6	65.60%	28.50%	D+37.1	D
49	64.69%	33.26%	D+31.4	67.57%	27.17%	D+40.4	D
50	70.79%	26.51%	D+44.3	76.72%	18.33%	D+58.4	D
51	83.48%	13.50%	D+70	84.05%	10.19%	D+73.9	D
52	65.01%	32.92%	D+32.1	65.78%	28.71%	D+37.1	D
53	84.64%	12.59%	D+72	84.83%	9.63%	D+75.2	D
54	83.62%	13.88%	D+69.7	85.15%	10.12%	D+75	D
55	45.77%	52.23%	R+6.5	49.92%	44.61%	D+5.3	R
56	62.14%	36.26%	D+25.9	64.21%	31.24%	D+33	D
57	63.71%	34.01%	D+29.7	65.92%	28.39%	D+37.5	D
58	70.24%	27.80%	D+42.4	72.54%	22.26%	D+50.3	D
59	93.24%	5.19%	D+88	90.70%	5.09%	D+85.6	D
60	51.32%	46.31%	D+5	52.48%	41.97%	D+10.5	D
61	63.43%	34.55%	D+28.9	62.47%	31.62%	D+30.9	D
62	80.81%	17.00%	D+63.8	82.05%	13.06%	D+69	D
63	76.06%	21.73%	D+54.3	77.35%	17.38%	D+60	D
64	88.74%	9.98%	D+78.8	86.21%	9.61%	D+76.6	D
65	51.90%	45.68%	D+6.2	56.73%	37.28%	D+19.4	D
66	54.18%	43.24%	D+10.9	59.97%	33.60%	D+26.4	D
67	39.61%	58.33%	R+18.7	38.89%	55.94%	R+17.1	R
68	42.55%	55.12%	R+12.6	49.42%	44.58%	D+4.8	R
69	67.37%	30.30%	D+37.1	71.94%	22.33%	D+49.6	D
70	67.38%	29.93%	D+37.5	68.13%	25.09%	D+43	D
71	38.47%	59.51%	R+21	38.19%	56.26%	R+18.1	R
72	46.71%	51.06%	R+4.4	51.40%	43.13%	D+8.3	R
73	38.68%	59.36%	R+20.7	43.89%	50.38%	R+6.5	R
74	45.14%	52.42%	R+7.3	50.71%	43.29%	D+7.4	R
75	39.42%	58.50%	R+19.1	43.22%	50.68%	R+7.5	R
76	48.76%	49.04%	R+0.3	53.11%	40.38%	D+12.7	R
77	48.25%	49.83%	R+1.6	55.16%	38.94%	D+16.2	R
78	63.15%	34.08%	D+29.1	67.48%	25.85%	D+41.6	D
79	61.21%	36.91%	D+24.3	64.24%	30.04%	D+34.2	D
80	69.47%	28.67%	D+40.8	73.15%	21.34%	D+51.8	D
Total	60.35%	37.19%	D+23.2	62.25%	31.89%	D+30.4	-
Source: Daily Kos

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms California lieutenant governor election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 - Google News

External links

Suggest a link

Lieutenant Governor of California official website

Footnotes

[1] California Demographics, "California Cities by Population," accessed April 2, 2018

[2] U.S. Census Bureau, "Quickfacts California," accessed April 2, 2018

[3] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[4] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

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