1978Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1978 election for California Senate District 4
California State Senate · California
James W. Nielsen (R) won with 52.3% of the vote, defeating John F. Dunlap (D) by 6.9 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
James W. NielsenRepublican · winner
52.3%108,688
John F. DunlapDemocrat · incumbent
45.4%94,448
Joseph F. HawkesPeace and Freedom
2.3%4,696
207,832 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1978
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The candidates
James W. Nielsen (R)John F. Dunlap (D)
Also on the ballot: Joseph F. Hawkes (Peace and Freedom), 2.3%