The United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1998 was an election for California's delegation to the United States House of Representatives, which occurred as part of the general election of the House of Representatives on November 3, 1998. Democrats gained the 1st district but lost the 3rd and 36th (which they would gain back in 2000) districts for a net loss of one seat.
This was the last time until a special election in 2020 where a Republican flipped a Democratic-held U.S. House seat in California, and also the last time until 2020 that Republicans flipped a Democratic-held seat in a general election.
Overview United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1998PartyVotes%BeforeAfter+/– Democratic 4,131,092 51.41% 29 28 -1 Republican 3,527,244 43.90% 23 24 +1 Libertarian 202,542 2.52% 0 0 0 Natural Law 113,601 1.41% 0 0 0 Green 23,906 0.30% 0 0 0 American Independent 14,587 0.18% 0 0 0 Peace and Freedom 14,070 0.18% 0 0 0 Reform 7,628 0.09% 0 0 0 Write-ins 793 0.01% 0 0 0 Invalid or blank votes 628,189 7.25% — — — Totals 8,662,859 100.00% 52 52 —
Separate elections
Three special elections were held apart from those in November. The elected winners would serve the remainder of the incumbent Congress and face re-election in November.
Date District Reason & Result Candidates March 10, 1998 Walter Capps (D) died October 28, 1997Democratic holdWinner was subsequently re-elected in November Lois Capps (D)Tom Bordonaro (R)Robert Bakhaus (L) April 7, 1998 Ron Dellums (D) resigned February 6, 1998Democratic holdWinner was subsequently re-elected in November Barbara Lee (D)Greg Harper (D)Claiborne Sanders (R)Randal Stewart (D) April 7, 1998 Sonny Bono (R) died January 5, 1998Republican holdWinner was subsequently re-elected in November Mary Bono (R)Ralph Waite (D)Anna Nevenich (D)John W. J. Overman (D)Tom Hamey (R)Bud Mathewson (R)
Results Final results from the Secretary of State of California:
District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27District 28 • District 29 • District 30 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 34 • District 35 • District 36 • District 37 • District 38 • District 39 • District 40District 41 • District 42 • District 43 • District 44 • District 45 • District 46 • District 47 • District 48 • District 49 • District 50 • District 51 • District 52 __NOTOC__
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
See also 106th United States Congress Political party strength in California Political party strength in U.S. states 1998 United States House of Representatives elections
References 1998 General Election Returns for United States Congress California Elections Page
External links California Legislative District Maps (1911-Present) RAND California Election Returns: District Definitions