2005 California's 5th congressional district special election

On March 8, 2005, a special election was held in the California's 5th congressional district to choose a U.S. Representative to replace Bob Matsui, who had died of pneumonia shortly after being re-elected in the 2004 elections. Matsui's wife, Doris, was quickly able to win support from the Democratic Party officials, and ended up winning over two-thirds of the vote in the special primary election, meaning a run-off would not be needed. As of 2021, this is the last time a widow succeeded their spouse in Congress.^[a]

2005 California's 5th congressional district special election

← 2004 March 8, 2005 2006 →

Nominee Doris Matsui Julie Padilla Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 56,175 7,158 Percentage 67.7% 8.6%

U.S. Representative before election Bob Matsui Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Doris Matsui Democratic

Results

California's 5th congressional district special election, 2005^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Doris Matsui	56,175	67.65
	Democratic	Julie Padilla	7,158	8.62
	Republican	John Flynn	6,559	7.90
	Republican	Serge Chernay	3,742	4.51
	Republican	Michael O'Brien	2,591	3.12
	Republican	Shane Singh	1,753	2.11
	Republican	Bruce Stevens	1,124	1.35
	Green	Pat Driscoll	976	1.18
	Independent	Leonard Padilla	916	1.10
	Democratic	Charles Pineda	659	0.79
	Libertarian	Gale Morgan	451	0.54
	Peace and Freedom	John Reiger	286	0.34
	Democratic	Lara Shapiro (write-in)	6	0.01
Invalid or blank votes			637	0.77
Total votes			83,033	100.0
Turnout				27.72
	Democratic hold

References

1. In 2020, Luke Letlow was elected to represent Louisiana but died before he could be sworn in. The special election to fill his vacant seat was won by his widow, Julia Letlow.

1. (PDF). Secretary of State of California. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 29, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.