Former businesswoman Carly Fiorina won the GOP Senate nomination Tuesday night, the first time California Republicans have ever chosen a woman as a Senate nominee.
She will now attempt to knock off Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, a three-term incumbent, in November.
Fiorina, the former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard, had 56 percent of the vote, with 45 percent of precincts reporting. Former Rep. Tom Campbell was second, with 24 percent, and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore was third, with 18 percent.
Fiorina addressed supporters in Anaheim, promising to run "a tireless, fearless campaign" against Boxer.
She called California "a state in great distress" and said that Californians "have had enough of a government that is out of control, out of touch and addresses every problem with more bureaucracy and more spending."
She called Boxer "a bitter partisan who has said much but achieved little."
"She gets an 'A' for politics and an 'F' for achievement," Fiorina said.
Fiorina, a 55-year-old millionaire, had led in most recent polls leading up to election day. She spent the most money in the race and surged ahead of Campbell in May after launching a statewide advertising blitz.
In the closing days of the campaign, Fiorina began looking ahead to a general election matchup with Boxer, who was first elected in 1992. She accused Boxer of being too liberal and too partisan to represent the state, and she began running a television advertisement that questioned the senator's commitment to national security.
Boxer said she welcomed a fight against Fiorina.
"I'm really glad that I have an opponent who is such a strong contrast to me," Boxer said Tuesday, already sketching out some campaign themes. "She's far right, she's out of the mainstream and she's got Sarah Palin's endorsement - that speaks for itself."
Boxer ticked off a series of positions and statements that she says identify ized Fiorina as pro-gun, anti-choice, squishy on job creation and soft on Wall Street malfeasance.
"Everything she's said is on tape," Boxer said. "Everything she's said is in writing."
Boxer added that Fiorina's personal wealth, which helped propel the GOP candidate's primary win, can be used against her.
"That even becomes an issue, when people think you're trying to buy a seat," Boxer said, adding that "it helps me raise money."
DeVore called Fiorina to offer his congratulations.
"She is our party's nominee," he said. "I endorse her. I will support her. I will vote for her."
In the last weeks of the race, the GOP candidates argued over who was the best suited to defeat Boxer in November.
Fiorina tried to paint Campbell as an out-of-touch politician who had run for office too often, who wanted to raise taxes and who was too liberal on social issues. Campbell was the only candidate in the race who backed gay rights and abortion rights.
Until last month, the two had been running neck and neck in most opinion polls. Campbell shook up the race by becoming a candidate in January after he abandoned his bid to become governor.
Campbell argued that he was the only Republican who actually beat Boxer in a hypothetical matchup. A poll published in the Los Angeles Times last week showed him defeating Boxer, while both Fiorina and DeVore lost to Boxer. But a Field Poll released on Friday showed that more GOP voters favored a Fiorina-Boxer matchup than a Campbell-Boxer contest.
Fiorina, who served as a top economic adviser for GOP presidential candidate John McCain in 2008, tried to run as an outsider, stressing her lack of political experience. For years, she didn't vote, but Fiorina boasted that she was the only candidate who had ever created a job or met a payroll. She argued that her business experience would serve her well in the Senate.
Her campaign focused on her compelling personal story: She dropped out of UCLA School of Law, got a job as a receptionist and began climbing the corporate ladder, ending up at Hewlett-Packard, which she led from 1999 to 2005. Fortune Magazine called Fiorina, the first woman to head a Fortune 20 company, "The Most Powerful Woman in Business."
The company's stock dropped by 50 percent during Fiorina's tenure, but she received a $21 million severance when she was fired. She decided to run for Senate with her hair still growing out after she had survived a scare with breast cancer.
While her backers praised Fiorina as a savvy executive, her critics said she was a ruthless leader at HP, firing thousands and earning the nickname "Chainsaw Carly."
Fiorina ran as a pro-Israel candidate, criticizing Campbell for voting against aid to Israel and for his alleged association with Muslim extremists and critics of the Israeli government.
In February, she ran an Internet ad that portrayed Campbell as a red-eyed "demon sheep," likening him to a wolf in sheep's clothing that crawled among a field of fiscally conservative sheep. While it aroused criticism from many, Fiorina argued that it was appropriate and humorous.
McClatchy Washington Correspondent Mike Doyle contributed to this report
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.