1988Final results
1988 election for California Senate District 5
California State Senate · California
John Garamendi (D) won with 69.1% of the vote, defeating Sam L. Lawrence (R) by 38.2 points.
John GaramendiDemocrat · winner · incumbent
69.1%184,171
Sam L. LawrenceRepublican
30.9%82,310
266,481 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 1988
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET