California's 20th State Senatorial district

California's 20th State Senatorial district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Caroline Menjivar of Panorama City.

California's 20th State Senate district
Current senator	Caroline Menjivar D–Panorama City
Population (2010)  • Voting age  • Citizen voting age	935,935^[1] 645,309^[1] 465,480^[1]
Demographics	15.74% White 8.45% Black 68.41% Latino 6.02% Asian 0.40% Native American 0.28% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.24% other 0.45^[1]% remainder of multiracial
Registered voters	441,629^[2]
Registration	49.31% Democratic 19.77% Republican 24.58% No party preference

District profile

The district encompasses most of the San Fernando Valley section of northern Los Angeles, including Burbank, Van Nuys, Reseda, Canoga Park, Tujunga, Sun Valley, Shadow Hills, Lake View Terrace, Arleta, Panorama City, Pacoima, Mission Hills, San Fernando, and Sylmar.

Election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results
2021	Recall	No 64.8 – 35.2%
2020	President	Biden 65.2 – 32.5%
2018	Governor	Newsom 65.7 – 34.3%
	Senator	Feinstein 52.9 – 47.1%
2016	President	Clinton 67.9 – 26.8%
	Senator	Harris 50.6 – 49.4%
2014	Governor	Brown 61.7 – 38.3%
2012	President	Obama 68.2 – 29.8%
	Senator	Feinstein 68.8 – 31.2%

List of senators representing the district

1851–1861: one seat

Senators	Party	Years served	Electoral history	Counties represented
District established April 16, 1852
James M. Estill	Democratic	April 16, 1852 – May 15, 1854	Elected in 1851. Re-elected in 1852. [data missing]	Sierra
John D. Scellan	Whig	January 1, 1855 – April 21, 1856	Elected in 1854. [data missing]
William T. Ferguson	Know Nothing	January 5, 1857 – April 26, 1858	Elected in 1856. Re-elected in 1857. [data missing]
	Democratic
M. Kirkpatrick	Democratic	January 3, 1859 – April 13, 1860	Elected in 1858. Re-elected in 1859. [data missing]
Harry J. Thornton	Beckenridge Democratic	January 7, 1861 – June 19, 1861	Elected in 1860. Resigned.
Vacant		June 19, 1861 – September 4, 1861	Vacant seat redistricted to the 22nd district before special election.

1860–1867: two seats

Years		Seat A				Seat B				Counties represented
		Member	Party	Electoral history		Member	Party	Electoral history
January 7, 1861 – May 15, 1862		William D. Harriman (Dutch Flat)	Republican	Elected in 1861. Re-elected in 1862. Retired.		Philip W. Thomas (Auburn)	Union Democratic	Redistricted from the 17th district and re-elected in 1861. [data missing]		Placer
May 15, 1862 – December 7, 1863			Union			Felix B. Higgins (Auburn)	Union	Elected in 1862. [data missing]
December 7, 1863 – April 4, 1864		James E. Hale (Auburn)	Union	Elected in 1862. Re-elected in 1865. [data missing]		John Yule (Colfax)	Union	Elected in 1862. Re-elected in 1865. [data missing]
December 4, 1865 – April 2, 1866

1867–1876: one seat

Senators	Party	Years served	Electoral history	Counties represented
Charles A. Tweed (Auburn)	Union	December 2, 1867 – April 4, 1870	Elected in 1867. [data missing]	Placer
Jacob H. Neff (Colfax)	Republican	December 4, 1871 – April 1, 1872	Elected in 1871. [data missing]
Noble Martin (Dutch Flat)	Independent	December 1, 1873 – April 3, 1876	Elected in 1873. [data missing]	Placer, El Dorado County, California

1876–1878: two seats

Years		Seat A				Seat B				Counties represented
		Member	Party	Electoral history		Member	Party	Electoral history
December 6, 1875 – April 3, 1876		Samuel G. Hilborn (Vallejo)	Republican	Elected in 1875. Redistricted to the 19th district.		William M. Hill (Sonoma)	Democratic	Elected in 1875. [data missing]		Solano, Sonoma
December 3, 1877 – April 1, 1878		Vacant		Seat vacant due to Hillborn winning a seat for the 19th district.

1880–present: one seat

Senators	Party	Years served	Electoral history	Counties represented
William L. Anderson (Santa Rosa)	Democratic	January 5, 1880 – January 8, 1883	Elected in 1879. Re-elected in 1880. [data missing]	Lake, Napa, Sonoma
Dennis Spencer (Napa)	Democratic	January 8, 1883 – January 3, 1887	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. [data missing]
Thomas J. Pinder (San Francisco)	Democratic	January 3, 1887 – January 5, 1891	Elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. [data missing]	San Francisco
George H. Williams (San Francisco)	Republican	January 5, 1891 – January 2, 1893	Elected in 1890. Redistricted to the 24th district.
John T. Broderick (San Francisco)	Republican	January 2, 1893 – January 7, 1895	Redistricted from the 26th district and re-elected in 1892. [data missing]
Eugene F. Bert (San Francisco)	Republican	January 7, 1895 – January 2, 1899	Elected in 1894. [data missing]
Frank W. Burnett (San Francisco)	Republican	January 2, 1899 – January 5, 1903	Elected in 1898. [data missing]
Frank French (San Francisco)	Republican	January 5, 1903 – February 27, 1905	Elected in 1902. Expelled for accepting bribes.^[3]
Vacant		February 27, 1905 – January 7, 1907
Thomas J. Kennedy (San Francisco)	Democratic	January 7, 1907 – January 2, 1911	Elected in 1906. Lost re-election.
Edward F. Bryant (San Francisco)	Republican	January 2, 1911 – January 4, 1915	Elected in 1910. Retired to become San Francisco Tax Collector.
William S. Scott (San Francisco)	Progressive	January 4, 1915 – January 8, 1923	Elected in 1914. Switched parties and re-elected in 1918. Retired to become a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
	Republican
P. J. Gray (San Francisco)	Republican	January 8, 1923 – April 23, 1930	Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1926. Died.^[4]
Vacant		April 23, 1930 – January 5, 1931
Bradford S. Crittenden (Stockton)	Republican	January 5, 1931 – January 8, 1951	Elected in 1930. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1946. [data missing]	San Joaquin
Verne W. Hoffman (Lodi)	Republican	January 8, 1951 – January 3, 1955	Elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1954. Retired to run for State Assembly.
Alan Short (Stockton)	Democratic	January 3, 1955 – January 2, 1967	Elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1962. Redistricted to the 6th district.
William E. Coombs (Rialto)	Republican	January 2, 1967 – October 19, 1973	Elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1970. Resigned.	San Bernardino
Vacant		October 19, 1973 – January 23, 1974
Ruben Ayala (Chino)	Democratic	January 23, 1974 – November 30, 1974	Elected to finish Coombs's term. Redistricted to the California's 32nd State Senate district.
Alan Robbins (Los Angeles)	Democratic	December 2, 1974 – November 19, 1991	Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1990. Resigned after being indicted due to the BRISPEC sting operation.^[5]	Los Angeles
Vacant		November 19, 1991 – July 2, 1992
David Roberti (Los Angeles)	Democratic	July 2, 1992 – November 30, 1994	Resigned from the 23rd district and assumed seat to finish Robbins's term.^[6] Termed out.
Herschel Rosenthal (Los Angeles)	Democratic	December 5, 1994 – November 30, 1998	Redistricted from the 22nd district and re-elected in 1994. Termed out.
Richard Alarcon (Los Angeles)	Democratic	December 7, 1998 – November 30, 2006	Elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2002. Retired to run for State Assembly.
Alex Padilla (Los Angeles)	Democratic	December 4, 2006 – November 30, 2014	Elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2010. Retired to run for Secretary of State.
Connie Leyva (Chino)	Democratic	December 1, 2014 – December 5, 2022	Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2018. Retired to run for San Bernardino County Supervisor.^[7]	Los Angeles, San Bernardino
Caroline Menjivar (Los Angeles)	Democratic	December 5, 2022 –	Elected in 2022.	Los Angeles

Election results

2018

2018 California State Senate election

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Connie Leyva (incumbent)	40,112	47.0
	Republican	Matthew Munson	30,233	35.4
	Democratic	Paul Vincent Avila	14,985	17.6
Total votes			85,330	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Connie Leyva (incumbent)	137,748	69.5
	Republican	Matthew Munson	60,578	30.5
Total votes			198,326	100.0
	Democratic hold

2014

2014 California State Senate election

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matthew Munson	14,124	33.0
	Democratic	Connie Leyva	9,096	21.2
	Democratic	Alfonso "Al" Sanchez	7,958	18.6
	Democratic	Shannon O'Brien	6,769	15.9
	Democratic	Sylvia Robles	4,843	11.3
Total votes			42,790	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Connie Leyva	56,943	62.4
	Republican	Matthew Munson	34,256	37.6
Total votes			91,199	100.0
	Democratic hold

2010

California State Senate election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alex Padilla (incumbent)	94,356	68.4
	Republican	Kathleen "Suzy" Evans	37,420	27.1
	Libertarian	Adrian Galysh	6,245	4.5
Total votes			138,051	100.0
	Democratic hold

2006

California State Senate election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alex Padilla	84,459	74.85
	Libertarian	Pamela Brown	28,377	25.15
Total votes			112,836	100.00
	Democratic hold

2002

California State Senate election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard Alarcon (incumbent)	88,902	100.00
Invalid or blank votes			35,228	28.38
Total votes			124,130	100.00
	Democratic hold

1998

California State Senate election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard Alarcón	82,258	65.94
	Republican	Ollie M. McCaulley	34,120	27.35
	Libertarian	Linda Starr	8,372	6.71
Invalid or blank votes			11,473	8.42
Total votes				100.00
	Democratic hold

1994

California State Senate election, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herschel Rosenthal (incumbent)	75,345	58.46
	Republican	Dolores Bender White	53,528	41.54
Invalid or blank votes			14,694	10.23
Total votes			143,567	100.00
	Democratic hold

See also

• California State Senate
• California State Senate districts
• Districts in California

References

1. "Citizens Redistricting Commission Final Report, 2011" (PDF).
2. "Report of Registration as of July 3, 2020" (PDF).
3. "FOUR SENATORS ARE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE The Bribe Takers Are Expelled by a Unanimous Vote-Wright Attempts to Thwart Movement at Last Moment". cdnc.ucr.edu.
4. "Services Today for Senator Gray". cdnc.ucr.edu.
5. Jacobs, Paul (November 20, 1991). "Robbins Quits Senate, Admits to Corruption : Probe: The San Fernando Valley Democrat will be sentenced to 5 years in prison. He promises to cooperate in other prosecutions". Los Angeles Times.
6. Gladstone, Mark. "Robbins Was Widely Disliked by Colleagues : Reputation: He was known for his cockiness and his deal-making, but he remained popular with constituents in his heavily Democratic district", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, November 20, 1991. Retrieved on October 5, 2018.
7. "Chino lawmaker Connie Leyva makes bid for San Bernardino County supervisor". January 27, 2022.

External links

• District map from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission