Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: California State Legislature

November 2, 2012

By Ballotpedia's State legislative team

California's State Legislative Elections in 2012
Senate seats	Contested senate seats	House seats	Contested house seats
20	18 (90.0%)	80	76 (95.0%)

Sacramento: California: There are 100 total legislative seats with 2012 elections in California, where polling places are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM Pacific Time.

The Democratic Party has partisan control of the California State Senate 25-15 heading into the 2012 elections. They need to gain two seats in order to achieve a 2/3 supermajority. They currently hold 14 even-numbered seats and are expected to win 12 of the 20 odd-numbered seats already, meaning that they just need one more to hit the 27 seat mark. Three of the odd-numbered seats are rated as toss-ups and will most likely determine whether Democrats gain their supermajority, Districts 5, 27, and 31. Currently, District 27 is lacking a strong Republican candidate, making it the most likely to be won by Democrats in 2012.

As a result of the new redistricting process, it has been estimated that up to 40 percent of the legislative seats could be won by new candidates in 2012.

Of the 100 incumbents up for election in 2012, 56 (56.00%) of them are running for re-election. A total of 94 of 100 (94.0%) districts will see more than one major party candidate in the general election.

Here are a few races to watch:

Senate

• District 5 is projected to be one of the tight races that determines Democrats chances of getting a super majority. Bill Berryhill (R) will face incumbent Cathleen Galgiani (D). Berryhill will likely need to win this seat in order to keep Democrats from gaining a supermajority.

• District 27: While the Republican candidate Todd Zink has been raising significantly less money than Democrat Fran Pavley, the newly redrawn district does encompass more conservatives than it did prevously, which should make for a very tight race in November. Zink, a prosecutor and Marine Corps Reserve officer, is thought to have a fighting chance at getting the seat.

• District 31: Republican Assemblyman Jeff Miller, who has high name recognition, will look to keep a seat for Republicans against Democratic challenger Richard Roth. In early September, this already tight race was further complicated by Steve Clute (D), who came in third in the primary. Despite being a Democrat, he took the unusual step of endorsing Miller, a Republican.

Assembly

• District 8: Peter Tateishi (R), chief of staff to Republican U.S. Representative Dan Lungren, is up against Ken Cooley (D) in the swing seat. The District 8 race is close, as Tateishi has been gaining ground on Cooley.
• District 61: Republican Bill Batey, a Moreno Valley City Council member, is challenging Democrat Jose Medina, a teacher in the Riverside Unified School District and former board member of the Riverside Community College District. The district race stems from redistricting] of the state’s political map following the 2010 census.
• District 66: Democrat Al Muratsuchi and Republican Craig Huey, both of Torrance, are running in this highly competitive race for the Los Angeles County district seat.

California State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	25	26
	Republican Party	15	12
	Vacancy	0	2
Total		40	40

California State Assembly
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	52	56
	Republican Party	28	24
Total		80	80

See also

• Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: California Congressional Seats
• Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
• State legislative elections, 2012
• November 6, 2012 election results
• State legislative elections, 2012
• California elections, 2012

• California State Senate elections, 2012
• California State Assembly elections, 2012