| Election Name: | 2009 California's 10th congressional district special election |
| Country: | California |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2008#District 10 |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2010#District 10 |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
| Nominee1: | John Garamendi |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 72,817 |
| Percentage1: | 52.9% |
| Nominee2: | David Harmer |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 59,017 |
| Percentage2: | 42.8% |
| Representative | |
| Before Election: | Ellen Tauscher |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | John Garamendi |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
California's 10th congressional district special election, 2009 was held on November 3, 2009, to fill the vacancy caused in California's 10th congressional district by the resignation of Ellen Tauscher. Democratic Party candidate John Garamendi won against Republican opponent David Harmer.
On May 5, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Democratic Representative Ellen Tauscher for the position of Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.[1] She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 26 and subsequently resigned from her congressional seat.[2]
Following her resignation, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called a special election. An open primary among candidates of all political parties took place on September 1, 2009. If a candidates received a majority of the vote in the primary, that candidate would wins the seat without an additional election. As that didn't occur, the general election took place on November 3, 2009, between the candidates with the most votes for each party.
The following individuals appeared in the certified list of candidates and the certified list of write-in candidates published by the Secretary of State of California, and were thus eligible to receive votes in the special primary election.[3] [4]
| width=185px | Poll source | width=150px | Date | width=150px | John Garamendi | width=150px | David Harmer | width=150px | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Survey USA[6] | October 26–28, 2009 | 50% | 40% | 6% |
Since no candidate won a majority in the September 1, 2009, open primary, the candidates with the top votes for each party advanced to the special general election. Garamendi won more votes than any other Democrat and Harmer more than any Republican. Denham, Cloward, and McIlroy were the only candidates from their parties so they advanced the general election by default.