Campbell Wins Special Election for Congress
State Assemblyman Tom Campbell easily defeated stockbroker Jerry Estruth on Tuesday in a special congressional election that is widely considered a preview of the 1996 campaigns.
With absentee ballots counted and 152 of 466 precincts reporting, Republican Campbell had 28,295 votes, or 59%, while Estruth, a Democrat, had 17,187, or 36%. A little-known independent candidate, computer engineer Linh Dao, had 1,596, or 5%.
The contest to succeed longtime Rep. Norm Mineta, a Democrat, was marked by highly negative ads by Campbell and Estruth, otherwise affable political moderates.
Estruth, a former San Jose city councilman, tried to turn the race into a referendum on unpopular Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Campbell, a Republican state assemblyman, emphasized his political independence during a previous stint in Congress.
Republicans had hoped to boost their majority in the House of Representatives by winning the seat Mineta held for 21 years before unexpectedly leaving Congress to work for Lockheed-Martin Corp.
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