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California's 17th State Senate district
California's 17th State Senate district
Current senator
	John Laird; D–Santa Cruz
Population (2010); • Voting age; • Citizen voting age	931,341; 724,678; 615,065
Demographics	56.49% White; 2.33% Black; 30.95% Latino; 8.06% Asian; 0.95% Native American; 0.39% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; 0.30% other; 0.53% remainder of multiracial;
Registered voters	567,749
Registration	46.61% Democratic; 23.90% Republican; 23.72% No party preference

California's 17th senatorial district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat John Laird of Santa Cruz.

District profile

The district encompasses the Big Sur section of the Central Coast, including Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey Counties, along with northern San Luis Obispo County.

Election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results
2021	Recall	No 65.1 – 34.9%
2020	President	Biden 66.8 – 30.8%
2018	Governor	Newsom 63.8 – 36.2%
2018	Senator	Feinstein 54.0 – 46.0%
2016	President	Clinton 63.4 – 29.6%
2016	Senator	Harris 67.0 – 33.0%
2014	Governor	Brown 66.0 – 34.0%
2012	President	Obama 62.8 – 33.9%
2012	Senator	Feinstein 65.1 – 34.9%

List of senators

Due to redistricting, the 17th district has been moved around different parts of the state. The current iteration resulted from the 2011 redistricting by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Senators	Party	Years served	Counties represented	Notes
Charles Dent Reynolds	Democratic	January 8, 1883 - January 5, 1885	Calaveras, Tuolumne
Andrew B. Beauvais	Republican	January 5, 1885 - January 3, 1887	Calaveras, Tuolumne
Henry Vrooman		January 3, 1887 - January 7, 1889	Alameda
William E. Dargie		January 7, 1889 - January 2, 1893	Alameda
William J. Dunn	Democratic	January 2, 1893 - January 4, 1897	San Francisco
Samuel Braunhart		January 4, 1897 - June 28, 1900		Resigned to become a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Joseph M. Plunkett		January 1, 1901 - January 2, 1905
Frank A. Markey	Republican	January 2, 1905 - January 4, 1909
Thomas F. Finn	Republican	January 4, 1909 - January 6, 1913
Archibald E. Campbell	Democratic	January 6, 1913 - January 8, 1917	Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo
Elmer S. Rigdon	Democratic	January 8, 1917 - December 13, 1922	Monterey, San Luis Obispo	Died in office.^[3]
Ralph Leon Hughes	Republican	March 5, 1923 - January 5, 1925		Sworn in after winning special election.^[4]
C. C. Baker		January 5, 1925 - January 2, 1933
William Richard Sharkey		January 2, 1933 - January 4, 1937	Contra Costa
Truman H. DeLap		January 4, 1937 - January 3, 1949
George Miller Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1949 - January 2, 1967
Donald L. Grunsky	Republican	January 2, 1967 - November 30, 1976	Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz
Bob Nimmo	Republican	December 6, 1976 - November 30, 1980	Monterey, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz
Henry J. Mello	Democratic	December 1, 1980 - November 30, 1992	Monterey, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz
Henry J. Mello	Democratic	December 1, 1980 - November 30, 1992	Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
Don Rogers	Republican	December 15, 1992 - November 30, 1996	Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino	Took his seat in the 17th district after resigning from the 16th district.
William J. Knight		December 2, 1996 – May 7, 2004	Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino	Died in office.
George Runner		December 6, 2004 – December 21, 2010	Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura	Resigned from the Senate.
Sharon Runner		February 18, 2011 – December 3, 2012	Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura	Sworn in after winning special election.
Bill Monning	Democratic	December 3, 2012 – November 30, 2020	Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
John Laird	Democratic	December 7, 2020 – present	Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

Election results (1992–present)

2020

California State Senate election, 2020
Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Laird	138,986	44.4
	Republican	Vicki Nohrden	98,649	31.5
	Democratic	Maria Cadenas	65,525	20.9
	Democratic	John M. Nevill	10,040	3.2
Total votes			313,200	100.00
General election
	Democratic	John Laird	320,090	64.7
	Republican	Vicki Nohrden	174,587	35.3
Total votes			494,677	100.00
	Democratic hold

2016

California State Senate election, 2016
Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Monning (incumbent)	185,586	68.8
	Republican	Palmer Kain	84,142	31.2
Total votes			269,728	100.00
General election
	Democratic	Bill Monning (incumbent)	268,806	65.5
	Republican	Palmer Kain	141,339	34.5
Total votes			410,145	100.00
	Democratic hold

2012

California State Senate election, 2012
Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Monning	110,890	59.4
	Republican	Larry Beaman	75,713	40.6
Total votes			186,603	100.00
General election
	Democratic	Bill Monning	236,213	63.3
	Republican	Larry Beaman	136,836	36.7
Total votes			373,049	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

2011 (special)

2011 Special election 17th State Senate district special election
Vacancy resulting from the resignation of George Runner
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sharon Runner	44,238	65.27%
	Democratic	Darren W. Parker	23,534	34.73%
Total votes			67,772	100.00
	Republican hold

2008

California State Senate election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Runner (incumbent)	182,295	54.85
	Democratic	Bruce McFarland	150,060	45.15
Total votes			332,355	100.00
Turnout				70.90
	Republican hold

2004

California State Senate election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Runner	179,992	59.70
	Democratic	Jonathan Daniel Kraut	109,037	36.16
	Libertarian	John S. Ballard	12,479	4.14
Total votes			301,508	100.00
	Republican hold

2000

California State Senate election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Knight (incumbent)	172,723	64.36
	Democratic	Richard Lott	84,427	31.46
	Libertarian	John R. Gibson	7,667	2.86
	Natural Law	Douglas R. Wallack	3,543	1.32
Invalid or blank votes			10,416	3.74
Total votes			278,776	100.00
	Republican hold

1996

California State Senate election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Knight	163,531	66.61
	Democratic	Steven A. Figueroa	61,962	33.39
Invalid or blank votes			17,880	6.79
Total votes			243,373	100.00
	Republican hold

1992

California's 17th State Senate district election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Don Rogers (incumbent)	136,298	52.15
	Democratic	William M. Olenick	101,715	38.92
	Libertarian	Fred Heiser	23,340	8.93
Invalid or blank votes			27,834	9.62
Total votes			289,187	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic