Jenny Oropeza Wins California Election Despite Being Dead

Jenny Oropeza died last month, but her political career lives on.

The deceased California Democrat won re-election to the State Senate by a comfortable margin, besting Republican challenger John Stammreich, 58% to 36%.

Oropeza passed away on October 20, too late to replace her on the ballot for the state's 28th Senate district, which includes parts of Long Beach, Los Angeles and the South Bay. She had been battling health problems and died of complications from a blood clot that first developed in May. Oropeza, 53, was successfully treated for liver cancer in 2004.

Tuesday's result will trigger a special election.

The Daily Breeze reports that the campaign's final stretch was fraught with controversy:

The tone of the campaign for the 28th District turned sour on its final day, with Stammreich and the California Republican Party filing complaints accusing the Democratic Party and Secretary of State Debra Bowen of using a late-hour campaign mailing to "illegally influence" voters to cast a ballot for Oropeza.

The correspondence, titled "Election Information," was sent via mail to Democratic and decline-to-state voters and outlined what would happen if Oropeza won.

The Los Angeles Times has more about the controversial mailer, which was paid for by the California Democratic Party. It claimed that "Republicans are trying to take unfair advantage of Jenny's tragedy" by suggesting that a vote for Oropeza would result in a "costly Special Election."

The complaint filed by Republicans says that the state's top election official gave "her name and her office to an illegal attempt to sway this election." Democrats dismissed the charge as frivolous.

Oropeza was elected to the Senate in 2006 after serving six years in the Assembly. The Carson lawmaker was known for championing health and environmental causes, including unsuccessful legislation that sought to ban smoking at state parks. Her illness forced her to miss most of this year's session.

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.

Comments

[Conk]

11:29 AM on 11/04/2010

She'll likely do just as good a job dead as most other living politicians. At least she can't do any harm.

[RobinSeattle]

01:48 AM on 11/04/2010

You don't get more disrespected than losing an election against a dead person. Too funny.

[GinC]

09:50 PM on 11/03/2010

This says nothing about the Rep candidate. He lost in a Heavy Demorat district because a bunch of D voters will blindly vote D without knowing any facts, like whether or not their chosen candidate is even alive. It says more about the voters than anything else.

[RobinSeattle]

01:49 AM on 11/04/2010

I disagree. They decided that they would rather vote for a dead person over any Republican. Sounds like wisdom to me.

[dsw70]

06:08 PM on 11/03/2010

You lost to a dead person?!?! Meg w., did no better.

[bobbyperu]

05:39 PM on 11/03/2010

Even dead, Jenny Oropeza is still more qualified to be in office than any teabagger candidate that won last night.

[fiberoptimist]

05:38 PM on 11/03/2010

I'd vote for a dead Democrat vs. a live Republican any day.

[edgarcaycedoc]

07:08 PM on 11/03/2010

Could you really tell the difference??

[fiberoptimist]

07:25 PM on 11/03/2010

I find that remark offensive.... to dead people.

[corwin]

05:30 AM on 11/20/2010

And,this is why I feel no guilt about enjoying the slow motion train wreck that is Calfornia.Sci fi author Larry Niven has a character (Loius Wu ) who is wont to proclaim, "Stupidity can be a capital crime." Let's watch and enjoy the show! I'll bring the popcornn

[Baileygk]

04:31 PM on 11/03/2010

I voted for her. I didn't know she was dead until this morning, but now we get a special election. What's the big deal?

[BenjaminShanklin]

04:44 PM on 11/03/2010

A special election is going to cost tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Baileygk]

07:01 PM on 11/03/2010

so we should ignore democracy because it costs too much?

I don't know if you live in this state, but our current slate of politicians actually held a special election last year just because they couldn't agree on budget cuts. It was so Abel Maldanado would vote with Democrats against the obstructionist Republicans.

Democracy is not a waste of money.

[m3tric]

04:45 PM on 11/03/2010

You are very informed...

[Baileygk]

05:19 PM on 11/03/2010

yes, I actually am. The state election committee does not have my address correct and for some reason can not fix it (a quirk of my neighbourhood)

Can you now explain why I should have voted for a Republican who does not support my views on anything (I don't even need to know where he stands for that statement to be true)

[Andythelawyer]

04:22 PM on 11/03/2010

There's a precedent. Didn't John Ashcrost lose his sente race to a dead Democrat in 2000 -- requiring Bush to appoint him Attorney General so he'd still have a job?

[NotTomPaquin]

03:56 PM on 11/03/2010

Just bring Sam Seaborn in for the runoff...

[AMJ889]

03:49 PM on 11/03/2010

Vote for me !

[Moderate Independent]

03:48 PM on 11/03/2010

This is sad for two reasons.

1. The death of a beloved person.

2. The lack of sense by the electorate.

[Nicole Maron]

05:06 PM on 11/03/2010

1. Yes, so sad, especially after such a long battle with her illness.

2. It sounds like much of the electorate made a conscious choice to vote for a dead woman so that they could get a special election. Costly or not, it is both legal and fair. No party should automatically win due to the death of the opposition.

[bobbyperu]

06:14 PM on 11/03/2010

It makes perfect sense to me. I'd rather vote for a dead democrat than a living republican any day.

[edgarcaycedoc]

07:10 PM on 11/03/2010

So would I, if I could tell the difference.

[Syrlinus]

03:42 PM on 11/03/2010

Wow. And here people are worried about dead voters?

[edgarcaycedoc]

07:10 PM on 11/03/2010

First time I heard of that outside of Chicago!

[LLeGrande]

03:32 PM on 11/03/2010

I live in Ms. Oropreza's State Senate District. I did receive a postcard from the Secretary of State which said that we could vote for Ms. Oropreza. And, if she won, a special election would be held to fill her seat. I was glad to receive this notice from the California Secretary of State.

Something similar happened in the 2000 election. A dead man beat John Ashcroft for the U. S. Senate seat from Missouri. In that situation, the Governor of Missouri was legally entitled to name the person to fill that seat - and the governor named the wife of the deceased candidate.

John Ashcroft, bettered in the election by a dead man, lived on to become Attorney General of the United States. He covered male crotches in statues in the Department of Justice. He sent the FBI to deal with hookers in advance of 9-11. And he warded off the scam by his successor and the neocons who tried to get Mr. Ashcroft to sign-off on torture while he was on sedatives while in the hospital.

[smartdog]

04:14 PM on 11/03/2010

And it seems logical. Just because she died doesn't mean there isn't a replacement presence that should be held open by Oropreza's constinuency.

[AndyWright68]

03:31 PM on 11/03/2010

I wonder if all the votes by the deceased clinched it for her.

[Stephen Guilfoyle]

03:25 PM on 11/03/2010

Is Sam Seaborn going to run for the seat in the special?

[bmwracer]

03:38 PM on 11/03/2010

Exactly my thoughts.

Life imitates art.

[bmwracer]

03:45 PM on 11/03/2010

Yup... Straight out of "The West Wing."