Former Rep. Campbell to Seek State Senate Seat Being Vacated
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell, who gave up his congressional seat in 1992 to launch an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate, announced Thursday that he will seek the state Senate seat being vacated by another Republican, Becky Morgan of Los Altos.
In a statement released by his political consultant, Ron Smith, Campbell said he will make a formal announcement as soon as Morgan’s resignation becomes official Aug. 17. One of six women in the Legislature’s upper house, Morgan quit the Senate one year into her third term in order to take over a nonprofit consortium dedicated to improving economic competitiveness.
Campbell’s former congressional seat and the Morgan seat cover much of the same area in the Silicon Valley of Northern California. In the 1990 election there, he garnered more than 60% of the vote.
A Stanford University law professor, Campbell served two terms in the House before challenging former Los Angeles broadcaster Bruce Herschensohn in the 1992 Republican Senate primary. Herschensohn won the GOP nomination but then lost the general election to Democrat Barbara Boxer.
Campbell had been expected to run for state treasurer next year but apparently changed his mind when Morgan decided to quit.
The state Senate election will be Nov. 2.
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