Democrat Jenny Oropeza won re-election as a state senator in California, but the implications of her victory Tuesday won't be known for some time.
Oropeza, 53, died two weeks before the election from a blood clot after battling cancer. But the incumbent remained on the ballot, winning by a decent margin – 58 percent to 36 percent over Republican John Stammreich.
Democrats continued to ask voters to check Oropeza's name on the ballot after her death through mailers. Some Republicans filed a complaint that the mailer was an attempt to "illegally influence" voters.
The Democratic mailer suggested that Republicans were trying to capitalize on the situation.
"The Republicans are trying to take unfair advantage of Jenny’s tragedy," said the mailer without mentioning Oropeza's death. "They suggest that voting for Jenny will only result in a costly Special Election. I am asking you to vote for Jenny Oropeza. If a Special Election is called in a few months, you’ll have the chance to thoughtfully elect your Senator for a new four-year term."
CNN affiliate KTLA-TV in Los Angeles reports that Oropeza's name remained on the ballot because she died so close to the election.
So why encourage people to vote for her? Democrats likely hoped that at least they would get the chance to nominate a new Democratic candidate. And that's likely what will happen, KTLA reports, saying Oropeza's seat will be declared vacant, and a special election will be called in December.
At the time of this posting, CNN had not been able to reach the California Democratic Party for comment.
It's not the first time a deceased candidate has won an election against an opponent. The late Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan collected enough votes to beat Republican incumbent John Ashcroft for his U.S. Senate in 2000.
The popular governor died in a plane crash on October 16, 2000. By that time, it was too late to remove Carnahan's name from the ballot. His wife, Jean Carnahan, was appointed to his seat and served two years before losing in a special election.
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Are you guys, like, serious? Cause, like you sound like you're reading a script from 90210. Seriously. I could use a lot of this as material for a comedy sketch.
why can't this republican beat a dead democrat? have you ever ask why is that?
Wow! My thoughts go out to the Oropeza family.
I like how all the opposition posts to Oropeza and democrats are full of bad grammar. It's almost like CNN's blogs were just invaded by the Tea Party.
@ Anti-Shane: Most candidates running unopposed are probably doing so because any opposition realizes it would be a waste of money. That's not the case here.
Also, for everyone pointing out that Cali is going bankrupt and they deserve it; a reminder that they've had a Republican Governor for quite a while that's overseen their spiraling economy. Good Job!
I love California, but I resent the notion that everyone in the midwest is a cow herding bible thumper. I also do think far left liberals are ruining the southern cities of the golden state. After decades of handouts what has gotten better in the hoods of San Diego, LA, or Oakland? I bet if states required the recipients of welfare to get educations you'd start to see a decline in your welfare applications. Just like business needs to be regulated so does the DHS. We need to expect more from our citizens if things are going to change.
The geography is beautiful, but the people are misguided. I think it's interesting that liberals portray themselves as peace loving hippies, yet they rely on their ignorant, hateful stereotypes of the normal Americans in the Midwest. It reminds of a young punk that tried to run me off the highway earlier tonight in a construction zone. He had "peace" and liberal bumper stickers all over his car as he drove recklessly and endangered people's lives. Typical hippie poser who can't live what he advertises...
Wow. Dems encouraged people to vote for a dead woman? That's amazing and seems incredibly unethical. So... I'm not surprised.
Simple elect law could fix this. "Dead people" would be handled the same as any other election fraud. Thrown out of process and would not end up in any results.
They stole Sideshow Bob's idea, did any dead pet's names appear on the ballot too?
Thats a first in democratic election history. Usually its the dead who are voting.
Nah, happens all the time. Look at all the winners they elect in the house – Barney Frank for example. They'd have propped up Strom & Kennedy on sticks if they could figure out how to keep them from smelling better than they already stunk.
[ See what I did there? ]
Thats a disgusting move on the Dems side, although I'm not surprised. They had plenty of time to remove her from the ballot but the Dems where hoping they would capitalized on a vacant Democratic Seat, if only for the sympathy vote. The Dems have gone down another knotch when it concerns morality. I mean look at Alaska, they managed to get the write in ballots in such a short time but for some reason the Dems were unable to beat the clock and remove the name of a deceased candidate. It would seem that California and Neveda enjoy a do nothing candidate. California is as broke as you can get and the Dems in those states continue to prevail, what an accomplishment, LOL!! It makes you wonder who is really voting in those states if a deceased candidate and a do nothing politician can win in any election? I believe the GOP actually won those states but Dems manipulated the polling center to alter the projected outcomes. God Bless
Voted for a dead person (or brain-dead – like Pelosi ) rather than a Republican? I'd like to think they're so blind that they didn't know she was dead when they voted straight across the democrat line.
Or is it computerized there – and they press the Democrat and/or Republican button to vote for the Democrat ( dead or brain-dead. )
blah blah blah drink the koolaid, blah blah blah sheeple, blah blah blah liberal left nazi fascist pelosi, blah blah blah. you GOP neocons all sound alike.
What's wrong is to think you have to vote for the opposing party because the candidate in your party has died.
I wonder how many dead voters voted for her.
Just one more confirmation that we need to establish a minimum IQ of at least 120 for voting.
Couldn't agree with you more, but it would certainly cut the voting population big time. Lots of stupid people. You can see that on the internet everyday.
What do you expect? its the left coast
What other choice did the people have? If they didn't vote for her, they weren't going to get a choice. It's the logical thing to do. Why should you have to vote for one person just because something tragic happened to the other candidate?
You neocons are just mad that a GOP candidate couldn't get elected, simply because he was alive.