2003 special election for California Governor
Governor · California
Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) won with 48.6% of the vote, defeating Cruz Bustamante (D) by 17.1 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Source: English WikipediaUpdated Oct 5, 2026, 4:05 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 2003
Races before and after
Source: English WikipediaUpdated Oct 5, 2026, 4:05 AM ET
The candidates
Also on the ballot: Peter Miguel Camejo (Green), 2.8%; Arianna Huffington (Independent), 0.5%; Peter Ueberroth (Republican), 0.3%; Larry Flynt (Democrat), 0.2%; Gary Coleman (Independent), 0.2%; George B. Schwartzman (Independent), 0.1%; Mary Carey (Independent), 0.1%; Bruce Margolin (Democrat), 0.1%; Bill Simon (Republican), 0.1%; Van Vo (Republican), 0.1%; John Christopher Burton (Independent), 0.1%; David Laughing Horse Robinson (Democrat), 0.1%; Leo Gallagher (Independent), 0.1%; Cheryl Bly-Chester (Republican), 0.1%; Lawrence Strauss (Democrat), 0.1%; Ronald Palmieri (Democrat), 0.0%; Calvin Louie (Democrat), 0.0%; Badi Badiozamani (Independent), 0.0%; Audie Bock (Democrat), 0.0%; Ralph Hernandez (Democrat), 0.0%; Edward Kennedy (Democrat), 0.0%; Dan Feinstein (Democrat), 0.0%; Bob McClain (Independent), 0.0%; James Green (Democrat), 0.0%; Garrett Gruener (Democrat), 0.0%; Angelyne (Independent), 0.0%; Paul Mariano (Democrat), 0.0%; Ivan Hall (Green), 0.0%; Jim Weir (Democrat), 0.0%; Jerome Kunzman (Independent), 0.0%; Ned Roscoe (Libertarian), 0.0%; Georgina Russell (Democrat), 0.0%; Jonathan Miller (Democrat), 0.0%; Jack Grisham (Independent), 0.0%; Christopher Sproul (Democrat), 0.0%; Daniel Watts (Green), 0.0%; Ken Hamidi (Libertarian), 0.0%; Marc Valdez (Democrat), 0.0%; Frank Macaluso (Democrat), 0.0%; Daniel Ramirez (Democrat), 0.0%; Randall Sprague (Republican), 0.0%; Brooke Adams (Independent), 0.0%; Mohammad Arif (Independent), 0.0%; Nathan Walton (Independent), 0.0%; John Hickey (Libertarian), 0.0%; Mike Schmier (Democrat), 0.0%; C.t. Weber (Peace and Freedom), 0.0%; Diana Foss (Democrat), 0.0%; Michael Wozniak (Democrat), 0.0%; B.e. Smith (Independent), 0.0%; Lingel Winters (Democrat), 0.0%; Richard Simmons (Independent), 0.0%; Joe Guzzardi (Democrat), 0.0%; Mike McCarthy (Independent), 0.0%; Art Brown (Democrat), 0.0%; Leonard Padilla (Independent), 0.0%; Iris Adam (No Labels), 0.0%; Maurice Walker (Green), 0.0%; Trek Kelly (Independent), 0.0%; Vikramjit Bajwa (Democrat), 0.0%; David Sams (Republican), 0.0%; Darin Price (No Labels), 0.0%; Charles Pineda (Independent), 0.0%; John Mortensen (Democrat), 0.0%; Sara Hanlon (Independent), 0.0%; Diane Templin (Independent), 0.0%; Dick Lane (Democrat), 0.0%; Jim Hoffmann (Republican), 0.0%; William Vaughn (Democrat), 0.0%; C. Stephen Henderson (Independent), 0.0%; Robert Newman (Republican), 0.0%; Jamie Safford (Republican), 0.0%; Robert Mannheim (Democrat), 0.0%; Dorene Musilli (Republican), 0.0%; Scott Mednick (Democrat), 0.0%; A. Lavar Taylor (Democrat), 0.0%; Brian Tracy (Independent), 0.0%; Kurt Rightmyer (Independent), 0.0%; Christopher Ranken (Democrat), 0.0%; Sharon Rushford (Independent), 0.0%; Darrin Scheidle (Democrat), 0.0%; Patricia Tilley (Independent), 0.0%; Darryl Mobley (Independent), 0.0%; Alex-St. James (Republican), 0.0%; Bob Edwards (Democrat), 0.0%; Douglas Anderson (Republican), 0.0%; Joel Britton (Independent), 0.0%; Michael Jackson (Republican), 0.0%; Ed Beyer (Republican), 0.0%; Paul Mailander (Democrat), 0.0%; John Beard (Republican), 0.0%; Paul Nave (Democrat), 0.0%; Robert Cullenbine (Democrat), 0.0%; Warren Farrell (Democrat), 0.0%; Chuck Walker (Republican), 0.0%; William Chambers (Republican), 0.0%; Vip Bhola (Republican), 0.0%; Gerold Lee Gorman (Democrat), 0.0%; Dennis McMahon (Republican), 0.0%; James Vandeventer (Republican), 0.0%; Eric Korevaar (Democrat), 0.0%; Kelly Kimball (Democrat), 0.0%; Mike McNeilly (Republican), 0.0%; S. Issa (Republican), 0.0%; Gino Martorana (Republican), 0.0%; Richard Gosse (Republican), 0.0%; Tim Sylvester (Democrat), 0.0%; Bill Prady (Democrat), 0.0%; Bryan Quinn (Republican), 0.0%; Jeffrey Mock (Republican), 0.0%; Paul Vann (Republican), 0.0%; Michael Cheli (Independent), 0.0%; Heather Peters (Republican), 0.0%; Jeff Rainforth (Independent), 0.0%; Ronald Friedman (Independent), 0.0%; Todd Carson (Republican), 0.0%; Scott Davis (Independent), 0.0%; Daniel Richards (Republican), 0.0%; Carl Mehr (Republican), 0.0%; Lorraine Fontanes (Democrat), 0.0%; Gary Leonard (Democrat), 0.0%; Gregory Pawlik (Republican), 0.0%; Jon Zellhoefer (Republican), 0.0%; Reva Renz (Republican), 0.0%; Kevin Richter (Republican), 0.0%; Stephen Knapp (Republican), 0.0%; William Tsangares (Republican), 0.0%; Logan Clements (Republican), 0.0%; Robert Dole (Republican), 0.0%; David Kessinger (Democrat), 0.0%; Gene Forte (Republican), 0.0%; Todd Lewis (Independent), 0.0%; Mathilda Spak (Independent), 0.0%; Jason Gastrich (Republican), 0.0%; Monty Manibog (Democrat), 0.0%; Thomas Benigno (Independent), 0.0%; R. Charlie Chadwick (Independent), 0.0%; Shirley Coly (Independent), 0.0%; Jane Dawson (Democrat), 0.0%; Pauline Cooper (Democrat), 0.0%; Paul Walton (Independent), 0.0%; Jim Trenton (Republican), 0.0%; Wignes Warren (Democrat), 0.0%; Christy Cassel (Independent), 0.0%; Jacques-André Istel (Republican), 0.0%; Christian Meister (Democrat), 0.0%; Vincent Pallaver (Independent), 0.0%; Lincoln Pickard (Democrat), 0.0%; Lynda Toth (Democrat), 0.0%; Donald Wang (Republican), 0.0%; Robert Gibb (Democrat), 0.0%; Ronald Spangler (Independent), 0.0%; Kyle Conover (Independent), 0.0%; Bill Thill (Democrat), 0.0%; Jurlene White (Democrat), 0.0%; Joel Wirth (Republican), 0.0%