| California 48th Congressional District Election, 2005 |
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DISTRICT GEOGRAPHY See Also: United States House of Representatives, California District 48 The district is located in Orange County in Southern California , and includes the cities of Aliso Viejo , Dana Point , Irvine , Laguna Beach , Laguna Hills , Laguna Niguel , Laguna Woods Lake Forest (formerly known as El Toro ), Tustin , and parts of Newport Beach , San Juan Capistrano , and Santa Ana . CANDIDATES Ten Republicans qualified for the special primary election. California State Senator John Campbell won the Republican nomination by coming in first in the special primary election. Former State Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer came in second. Other Republican candidates included dentist David R. Crouch, former Tustin Councilman John Kelly , attorney Scott MacCabe, attorney Guy E. Mailly, real estate agent Masha A. Morris, businessman Marshall Samuel Sanders, businessman Edward A. Suppe, and physician Don A. Udall. Four Democrats qualified for the special primary election. Attorney Steve Young , UCI professor John Graham (who ran for the seat in three previous elections against Chris Cox: 2000, 2002, and 2004), teacher Bea Foster, and marketing consultant Tom Pallow. Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist was unopposed for the American Independent Party nomination. Real estate agent Bruce D. Cohen of the Libertarian Party and teacher Béa Tiritilli of the Green Party were also unopposed for the nominations of their respective parties. Campbell and Brewer were generally considered the frontrunners, with Gilchrist viewed as a possible spoiler against Campbell in the special primary election. Campbell had the backing of many major Republican officeholders, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger , and closely identified with the policies of President George W. Bush . Brewer was considered the more moderate alternative, in favor of Abortion and Stem Cell Research and endorsed by Senator John McCain . A sore point for some conservatives in the district was Campbell's position on Illegal Immigration . Gilchrist ran as a third party candidate primarily on his support for stronger immigration laws. Political climate The district is overwhelmingly conservative, with Republicans enjoying a 2 to 1 voter registration advantage ( Chris Cox won his last bid for re-election with 65% of the vote). Most pundits therefore viewed the contest as which Republican candidate would get the honor of filling the vacant seat. Because John Campbell obtained the majority of the endorsements within the Republican establishment, and was able to raise over $2,000,000, it quickly became apparent that Campbell would be destined to win. Campbell's strategy was to ensure that Jim Gilchrist would not "steal" too many votes that would have otherwise gone to him had Gilchrist not run. Gilchrist for his part, spent $500,000 to ensure that the topic of illegal immigration is prominent in the race. Democratic attorney Steve Young spent a large amount of his own money in the hope that Gilchrist and Campbell will split the conservative vote to a point which would allow him to edge both of them. Although Gilchrist spent more than twice the amount Young spent, Young edged Gilchrist for second place by two percentage points in the December 6 general election. Campbell's confidence in his victory was quite evident. In September, he skipped a candidate forum, and in November he attended a fundraiser for himself in Washington D.C. in which Dick Cheney was the guest of honor. He also bought a December 7 early morning airplane ticket to Washington days before the December 6 runoff. RESULTS OF SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION On runoff.
RESULTS OF SPECIAL GENERAL ELECTION The result of the December 6 general election are notable in that Campbell's plurality actually decreased by more than a point, and the combined Democratic total nearly doubled in the general election, with Gilchrist additionally gaining ten points. This would seem to indicate that a large majority of the voters who voted for a Republican candidate other than Campbell in the October 4 special primary election, did not rally behind Campbell in the special general election.
POSTSCRIPT Campbell's victory caused a vacancy in the 35th State Senate district. A special primary election was scheduled for and won the race to succeed Campbell by a 2-1 margin. {Link without Title} Harman's election to the State Senate left a vacancy in the State Assembly, which stayed vacant until December 4 , 2006 , when Jim Silva was sworn in after winning the regularly scheduled election for the seat on November 7 . EXTERNAL LINKS Government web sites
News media
Campaign sites General election candidates
Defeated special primary election candidates
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