1987 California's 5th congressional district special election

A special election to determine the member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 5th congressional district was held on April 7, 1987, with a runoff held two months later on June 2.

1987 California's 5th congressional district special election

← 1986 April 7, 1987 (primary) June 2, 1987 (runoff) 1988 →
California's 5th congressional district
Candidate Nancy Pelosi Harriet Ross Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 46,428 22,478 Percentage 63.36% 30.68%
U.S. Representative before election Sala Burton Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi Democratic

Incumbent Representative Sala Burton, who herself was elected during a special election following the previous incumbent's death, died on February 1, 1987, from colon cancer.^[1] Her death triggered a special election, leading to multiple people running to finish her term. No candidate received a 50% election in the general, leading to a run-off which former California Democratic Party chair Nancy Pelosi won.^[2]

Candidates

Fourteen candidates ran for the special election.

Democratic Party

• Nancy Pelosi, former chairwoman of the California Democratic Party and daughter of former Baltimore mayor, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.^[3]
• Harry Britt, LGBT rights advocate^[4] and former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors^[5][6]
• William Maher, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member^[6]
• Doris M. Ward, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member^[6]
• Carol Ruth Silver, gun rights advocate and San Francisco Board of Supervisors member^[7]
• Brian Lantz

Republican Party

• Harriet Ross
• Kevin W. Wadsworth
• Tom Spinosa, World War II and Vietnam War veteran and San Francisco County Republican Party official^[8]
• Mike Garza

Libertarian Party

• Sam Grove

Peace and Freedom Party

• Theodore Zurr

Independents

• Karen Edwards
• Catherine Renee Sedwick

Special primaries

The special election primaries were held on April 7, 1987. Every candidate ran in a nonpartisan blanket primary. If a candidate won 50% of the vote, they would automatically fill in the vacant seat. If no candidate won 50% of the vote, a runoff would be triggered with the top candidates in each party advancing to the runoff.

1987 California's 5th congressional district special election^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi	38,927	36.12
	Democratic	Harry Britt	35,008	32.48
	Democratic	William Maher	15,355	14.25
	Democratic	Doris M. Ward	6,498	6.03
	Republican	Harriet Ross	3,016	2.8
	Democratic	Carol Ruth Silver	2,896	2.69
	Republican	Kevin W. Wadsworth	1,755	1.63
	Republican	Tom Spinosa	1,712	1.59
	Republican	Mike Garza	1,262	1.17
	Independent	Karen Edwards	447	0.42
	Libertarian	Sam Grove	408	0.38
	Peace and Freedom	Theodore Zurr	187	0.17
	Independent	Catherine Renee Sedwick	164	0.15
	Democratic	Brian Lantz	141	0.13
Total votes			107,776	100.0

Runoff election

The runoff election took place on June 2, 1987, with Nancy Pelosi gaining the majority of the vote, winning her the special election for Burton's seat.^[2]

1987 California's 5th congressional district special general election^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi	46,428	63.36
	Republican	Harriet Ross	22,478	30.68
	Independent	Karen Edwards	1,602	2.19
	Peace and Freedom	Theodore Zurr	1,105	1.51
	Libertarian	Sam Grove	1,007	1.37
	Independent	Catherine Renee Sedwick	659	0.9
Total votes			73,279	100.0
	Democratic hold

References

1. Morain, Dan (February 7, 1987). "Rep. Sala Burton, Who Replaced Husband in Congress, Dies at 61". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
2. "Democrat Elected in San Francisco". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 3, 1987. from the original on February 9, 2010. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
3. "It began in Baltimore: The life and times of Nancy Pelosi". San Francisco Chronicle. January 2, 2007. from the original on April 29, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
4. Faderman, Lillian (2015). The Gay Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 371–72. ISBN 978-1-4516-9411-6.
5. "Gay is expected to make strong run for House seat". San Jose Mercury News. February 10, 1987. pp. 1C.
6. . City and County of San Francisco. Archived from the original on November 14, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
7. Miller, Johnny (January 20, 2010) "Top cop shoots down supe on guns." San Francisco Chronicle. (Retrieved June 3, 2015).
8. "Tom Spinosa Obituary (2008)". Legacy.com. San Francisco Chronicle. October 31, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
9. "Our Campaigns - CA District 5 - Special Election Race - Apr 07, 1987". OurCampaign. July 12, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
10. "Our Campaigns - CA District 5 - Special Runoff Race - Jun 02, 1987". OurCampaigns. April 18, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2021.