• Home
  • About Us
    • JoinCalifornia
    • Use as a Reference
  • California 175
    • 1849-1850 Events
    • Events Calendar
  • Political History
    • 2021 Senate to Assembly District Table
    • Covering the Capitol
    • Scott Lay’s Sofa Degree
    • Legislative Committee Reports
    • Legislative Staff
    • Term Limits in California
    • Notable No Votes
    • Redistricting
  • Nelson S. Dilworth Collection
    • California’s Military History
  • Leroy F. Greene Collection

One Voter Project

The Online Home of California's Political History

December 2, 2012 By Alex Vassar Leave a Comment

Steve Fox pulls ahead, will be sworn in Monday

 

The door to Capitol Room 3149, which was to become the office of Assemblyman Ron Smith on Monday morning.

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that Steve Fox (D) pulled ahead of Ron Smith (R) in the Assembly District 36 race. The last minute update, released about 20 hours before the new Legislature is due to be sworn in, is guaranteed to shake up Monday’s celebrations. At the Capitol, Smith’s photo had been hung on the second floor with those of the other 2013-14 legislators and a sign identified room 3149 as his office.

Steve Fox

While Fox’s margin of 145 votes over Smith was not the smallest ever,it appears to have beat all races in the past three decades. The most recent election with a smaller margin of victory was 1980’s AD-26 race between Adrian Fondse and Patrick Johnston. In 1980, Fondse was sworn in as a member of the 1981-82 legislature (with a narrow lead that had disappeared before the Legislature returned in January to begin it’s work). Fondse served in the Assembly for 35 days, the shortest term for a legislator in the full-time legislature era.

There will likely be a recount in the Fox-Smith race, which could push out the final election results even further. What remains unclear is how a well-funded Republican (Smith out-fundraised Fox better than 10 to 1) was defeated in what had been a fairly conservative district.

Filed Under: 2012 Election, Current Research, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly, Top Stories

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent News

New 2025 “California Lawmaker” Released

December 14, 2024

The new edition of "California Lawmaker" by JoinCalifornia.com editor Alex … [Read More...]

Legislative Retirement

December 8, 2024

In December 2024, Assemblyman Corey Jackson introduced legislation (ACA 2 of … [Read More...]

Adding Candidates

March 7, 2024

When to add candidates to the election data is always an interesting question. … [Read More...]

First Women to Chair Legislative Committees

January 25, 2024

I was recently asked who the first woman to chair a committee was. As it turns … [Read More...]

What Happened in the 2022 Election

November 13, 2022

[Updated 12/12] That was interesting. An election season that roared by in … [Read More...]

Latest Tweets

  • Just now
  • More Tweets by Alex Vassar

Fun Fact

A third of all Term Limits 1.0 legislators (1991-2012) left office without ever terming out of either house.

California Lawmaker 2021

Now Available on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • Legislator Hometowns December 19, 2024
  • New 2025 “California Lawmaker” Released December 14, 2024
  • Legislative Retirement December 8, 2024
  • Adding Candidates March 7, 2024

Copyright © 2025 · Education Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in