CALIFORNIA
      Nov. 8, 1988 U.S. Senate

Gov.
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 Sen.1
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+Pete Wilson (R) i
 		5,143,409
 		52.79%
Leo McCarthy (D)
4,287,253
 		44.00%
Maria Elizabeth Muñoz (P&F) 166,600
 		1.71%
Jack Dean (L)
79,997
 		0.82%
Merton D. Short (AIP)
66,288
 		0.68%
Joel Britton (w/in)
 51

9,743,598
Plurality: 856,156 votes (8.79 percentage points).



Notes:  Sen. Pete Wilson (R) won re-election, defeating Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy (D) by 8.79 percentage points.  Several third party candidates rounded out the field.

Wilson did not face a primary challenge, while McCarthy won over 80-percent of the vote in the Democratic primary.  There was no general election debate.  McCarthy carried a coastal strip of counties from the Bay Area to the Oregon border, but not a single county in Southern California.  The presidential race was closer, as Bush-Quayle won by 3.57 percentage points; McCarthy ran 414,980 votes behind Dukakis-Bentsen while Wilson ran 88,492 votes ahead of Bush.  The Los Angeles Times reported the Wilson-McCarthy contest was the most expensive Senate race of 1988, with spending totaling $15 million.



See also:
Frank Clifford.  "Wilson Defeats McCarthy's Bid for Senate Seat."  Los Angeles Times, Nov. 9, 1988.

Nancy Skelton.  "Senator Finally Gets Attention: Wilson Catches Spotlight in Gurney Ride to Senate."  Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1985.



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