State Sen. Sharon Runner’s legislation to save taxpayer dollars when a special election proves to be unnecessary cleared the Senate Floor unanimously on Thursday.

Senate Bill 49 would permit the governor, at his or her discretion, to cancel a special election when only one candidate qualifies to appear on the ballot.

“Elections are a vital part of our democratic process, but it is not always necessary to spend millions of dollars on an election when only one qualified candidate appears on the ballot,” said Runner, R-Lancaster.

Runner was elected to the Senate in March 2015 in a special election to replace then-Senator Steve Knight after he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the only candidate to appear on the ballot. Los Angeles County spent $1.4 million on the election while San Bernardino County spent $221,000.

“While the circumstances of my election were unusual, they were not unique,” said Runner. “Given the recent increase in special elections, a single candidate primary is likely to occur again sooner rather than later.”

Since 1975, there have been three instances where a special election was conducted with only one candidate officially listed on the ballot. In each case, the candidate won with at least 94% of the vote.

SB 49 is supported by the California State Association of Counties, the County of San Bernardino and the County of Sacramento.

Sharon Runner represents portions of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties as Senator for the 21st District. Her district includes the Antelope Valley, Victor Valley and portions of the Santa Clarita Valley.