A special election was held on June 5, 2001, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 32nd congressional district to replace Julian Dixon, who died on December 8, 2000, of a heart attack.
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California's 32nd congressional district | |||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 15.27% | ||||||||||||||||
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A special open primary election was held on June 1, 2001, of which Democratic Ambassador Diane Watson won nearly a third of the vote in a field of sixteen candidates. She handily defeated her main challenger, Republican Noel Hentschel, in the general election. Watson was redistricted to 33rd district for the 2002 election, in which she was re-elected.
Located mainly in the Culver City area of Los Angeles County, the 32nd district was considered a Democratic stronghold. It voted strongly Democratic in the past few presidential elections, giving Al Gore a lead of 70 percentage points over George W. Bush in the 2000 election.[1]
Julian Dixon was first elected in the 1978 election to represent the 28th district. He never faced serious competition during his tenure, and would serve eleven terms. Before starting his twelfth term, of which he was elected to with 83.5% of the vote, he died in Los Angeles of a heart attack.[2]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Democratic | Diane Watson | 29,524 | 32.87 | |
Democratic | Kevin Murray | 23,697 | 26.38 | |
Democratic | Nate Holden | 15,005 | 16.70 | |
Republican | Noel Hentschel | 4,806 | 5.35 | |
Democratic | Leo Terrell | 4,387 | 4.88 | |
Democratic | Philip A. Lowe | 2,742 | 3.05 | |
Republican | Mike Schaefer | 2,315 | 2.58 | |
Democratic | Tad Daley | 1,407 | 1.57 | |
Green | Donna J. Warren | 1,167 | 1.30 | |
Democratic | Jules Bagneris | 1,145 | 1.28 | |
Republican | Mike Cyrus | 982 | 1.09 | |
Democratic | Kirsten W. Albrecht | 768 | 0.86 | |
Democratic | Wanda James | 572 | 0.64 | |
Democratic | Blair H. Taylor | 558 | 0.62 | |
Reform | Ezola Foster | 514 | 0.57 | |
Democratic | Frank Evans III | 244 | 0.27 | |
Total votes | 89,833 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | 3.51 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Democratic | Diane Watson | 72,995 | 74.81 | |
Republican | Noel Hentschel | 19,403 | 19.89 | |
Green | Donna J. Warren | 3,661 | 3.75 | |
Reform | Ezola Foster | 1,512 | 1.55 | |
Majority | 53,592 | 54.93 | ||
Total votes | 97,571 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | 15.27 | |||
Democratic hold |