Senate special election

Harman won a hotly contested primary election for the 35th district Senate seat in a special election held in April, 2006 to replace Senator John Campbell who had recently been elected to Congress, thereby creating a vacancy for that Senate seat. Harman's conservative opponent, Dana Point City Councilwoman Diane Harkey, spent $1.2 million of her own money in an attempt to defeat him. Harman won the election by a margin of only 256 votes, thereby earning the nickname "Landslide Harman."

In June 2006, Harman won 67.8% of the general election vote^[1] to be elected to the State Senate to fill the 35th District seat, vacated when John Campbell became a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Senate tenure

Harman was re-elected to the 35th Senate district in November 2008. Senator Harman currently holds the position of Republican Caucus Whip. This is the third highest position in the Republican Caucus. In this capacity he is chiefly responsible for ensuring the enforcement of proper procedures and rules on the floor of the Senate. In addition to his leadership position, he also serves as Vice Chair to both the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Governmental Organization Committee.

A recent Sacramento Bee article concluded that Tom Harman had missed or abstained from the highest number of votes of any Senator who wasn't ill, during the 2010 legislative year.

Bid for Attorney General

Harman announced his candidacy for California Attorney General in June 2009. On June 8, 2010, Harman lost the Republican primary to Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who narrowly lost to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the general election.