1998Final results
1998 election for California Senate District 16
California State Senate · California
Jim Costa (D) won with 71.9% of the vote, defeating Gregg Palmer (R) by 43.8 points.
Jim CostaDemocrat · winner · incumbent
71.9%92,163
Gregg PalmerRepublican
28.1%36,005
128,168 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 1998
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET