1996Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
1996 election for California Senate District 27
California State Senate · California
Betty Karnette (D) won with 51.4% of the vote, defeating Phil Hawkins (R) by 2.8 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Betty KarnetteDemocrat · winner
51.4%126,582
Phil HawkinsRepublican
48.6%119,641
246,223 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 1996
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET