| Election Name: | February 2008 California elections |
| Country: | California |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2006 California elections |
| Previous Year: | 2006 |
| Election Date: | February 5, 2008 |
| Next Election: | June 2008 California elections |
| Next Year: | Jun 2008 |
The California state elections, February 2008 were held on February 5, 2008, throughout California. Presidential primaries and a special election for a State Assembly seat were among the contests held. Seven ballot propositions were also decided on.
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest |
Three candidates were on the ballot of the American Independent Party, a state political party.
| California American Independence presidential primary, 2008[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Donald Grundmann | 16,603 | 36.08% | |
| Diane Templin | 15,302 | 33.25% | |
| Mad Max Riekse | 14,099 | 30.64% | |
| David Larson (write-in) | 18 | 0.04% | |
| Totals | 46,022 | 100.00% | |
| Voter turnout | — | ||
See main article: 2008 California Democratic presidential primary.
| California Democratic presidential primary, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates | |
| Hillary Clinton | 2,608,184 | 51.47% | 204 | |
| Barack Obama | 2,186,662 | 43.16% | 166 | |
| John Edwards | 193,617 | 3.82% | 0 | |
| Dennis Kucinich | 24,126 | 0.48% | 0 | |
| Bill Richardson | 19,939 | 0.39% | 0 | |
| Joe Biden | 18,261 | 0.36% | 0 | |
| Mike Gravel | 8,184 | 0.16% | 0 | |
| Christopher Dodd | 8,005 | 0.16% | 0 | |
| Willie Carter (write-in) | 4 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Eric Hinzman (write-in) | 4 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Phil Epstein (write-in) | 3 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Brian Calef (write-in) | 2 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| David Frey (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Joseph McAndrew (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Keith Judd (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Julius Mogyorossy (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Totals | 5,066,993 | 100.00% | 370 | |
| Voter turnout | — | — | ||
Seven candidates participated in the Green Party's presidential primary, which is a non-binding contest.
| California Green presidential primary, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates[2] | |
| Ralph Nader | 21,726 | 60.61% | 102 | |
| Cynthia McKinney | 9,534 | 26.60% | 45 | |
| Elaine Brown | 1,598 | 4.46% | 7 | |
| Kat Swift | 1,084 | 3.02% | 5 | |
| Kent Mesplay | 727 | 2.03% | 3 | |
| Jesse Johnson | 619 | 1.73% | 3 | |
| Jared Ball | 556 | 1.55% | 3 | |
| Totals | 35,844 | 100.00% | 168 | |
| Voter turnout | 28.21% | — | ||
| California Libertarian presidential primary, 2008 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Christine Smith | 4,241 | 25.16% | |
| Steve Kubby | 2,876 | 17.06% | |
| Wayne Root | 2,360 | 14.00% | |
| Bob Jackson | 1,486 | 8.81% | |
| Barry Hess | 891 | 5.29% | |
| George Phillies | 852 | 5.05% | |
| Michael Jingozian | 774 | 4.59% | |
| Robert Milnes | 721 | 4.28% | |
| Daniel Imperato | 707 | 4.19% | |
| John Finan | 706 | 4.19% | |
| Dave Hollist | 678 | 4.02% | |
| Alden Link | 565 | 3.35% | |
| Leon Ray (write-in) | 1 | 0.01% | |
| Totals | 16,858 | 100.00% | |
| Voter turnout | 20.96% | ||
Seven candidates participated in the Peace and Freedom presidential primary, a non-binding "beauty contest". Ralph Nader received a plurality of the votes, followed by Gloria La Riva and Cynthia McKinney. Stewart Alexander was nominated to be Socialist Party candidate Brian Moore's running mate in October 2007, but remained on the Peace and Freedom ballot.
| California Peace and Freedom presidential primary, 2008 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Ralph Nader | 2,620 | 40.66% | |
| Cynthia McKinney | 1,385 | 21.49% | |
| Gloria La Riva | 1,292 | 20.05% | |
| Brian Moore | 355 | 5.51% | |
| John Crockford | 346 | 5.37% | |
| Stewart Alexander | 340 | 5.28% | |
| Stanley Hetz | 106 | 1.64% | |
| Totals | 6,444 | 100.00% | |
| Voter turnout | 11.27% | ||
See main article: 2008 California Republican presidential primary.
| California Republican presidential primary, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates | |
| John McCain | 1,238,988 | 42.25% | 116 | |
| Mitt Romney | 1,013,471 | 34.56% | 3 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 340,669 | 11.62% | 0 | |
| Rudy Giuliani | 128,681 | 4.39% | 0 | |
| Ron Paul | 125,365 | 4.27% | 0 | |
| Fred Thompson | 50,275 | 1.71% | 0 | |
| Duncan Hunter | 14,021 | 0.48% | 0 | |
| Alan Keyes | 11,742 | 0.40% | 0 | |
| John Cox | 3,219 | 0.11% | 0 | |
| Tom Tancredo | 3,884 | 0.13% | 0 | |
| Sam Brownback | 2,486 | 0.08% | 0 | |
| Karen Irish (write-in) | 6 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Michael Shaw (write-in) | 2 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Edward Marshall (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Joel Neuberg (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Robert Brickell (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Brian Calef (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| David Frey (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Walter Rothnie (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| John Sutherland (write-in) | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Totals | 2,932,811 | 100.00% | 119 | |
| Voter turnout | 56.08% | — | ||
See main article: California Proposition 91 (2008). Proposition 91 sought to amend the California Constitution to prohibit motor vehicle fuel sales taxes that are earmarked for transportation purposes from being retained in the state's General Fund.
See main article: California Proposition 92 (2008).
See also: Education in California. Proposition 92 sought to amend Proposition 98 of 1988, which sets a mandate for the minimum level of funding each year for elementary and secondary schools and community colleges.
See main article: California Proposition 93 (2008). Proposition 93 sought to change the term limits for members of the California State Legislature in both the State Assembly and State Senate.
See main article: California Propositions 94, 95, 96, and 97 (2008). Proposition 94 sought to expand the Indian Gaming Compact with the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians.
See main article: California Propositions 94, 95, 96, and 97 (2008). Proposition 95 sought to expand the Indian Gaming Compact with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
See main article: California Propositions 94, 95, 96, and 97 (2008). Proposition 96 sought to expand the Indian Gaming Compact with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.
See main article: California Propositions 94, 95, 96, and 97 (2008). Proposition 97 sought to expand the Indian Gaming Compact with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.
The seat of California's 55th State Assembly district was vacated by Assemblymember Laura Richardson, who won a special election to fill California's 37th congressional district on June 26, 2007. The congressional district was vacant after Juanita Millender-McDonald died of cancer on April 22, 2007.
A primary election for the special election was held on December 11, 2007. Since no candidate won a majority, the candidates with the top votes for each party appeared on the ballots for the special election.[3]
Voter turnout information is listed where applicable.[4] Turnout information is not available for the American Independent or Democratic primaries because both parties allowed Decline to State voters to participate.[5] There were a total of 328,261 eligible registered voters registered with the American Independent Party, 6,749,406 with the Democratic Party, and 3,043,164 who declined to state. There was a total of 15,712,753 eligible registered voters regardless of party affiliation in the entire state.[4]