1938 California gubernatorial election

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1938 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California (1924-1953).png
  1934 November 8, 1938 1942  
  Culbert L. Olson at a convention for the California Federation of Democratic Women's Clubs (cropped).jpg Frank Finley Merriam (cropped).jpg
Nominee Culbert Olson Frank Merriam
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,391,7341,171,019
Percentage52.49%44.17%

1938 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Olson:      40–50%     50–60%
Merriam:      40–50%     50–60%     70–80%

Governor before election

Frank Merriam
Republican

Elected Governor

Culbert Olson
Democratic

The 1938 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938. Culbert L. Olson defeated incumbent governor Frank F. Merriam to become the first Democrat elected Governor of California since James Budd in 1894. Merriam had angered the left and the right throughout his tenure as governor, leading a significant swing in favor of the Democratic party.

Contents

Olson was the first Democrat since George Stoneman in 1882 to receive an absolute majority of the vote. For the first time since 1882, Alameda County, Los Angeles County, and Ventura County were carried by a Democrat and San Diego County backed a Democrat for governor for the first time since 1879. California would not elect a Democrat as governor again until 1958. This was the last time until Gray Davis in 1998 that a Democrat who was not a member of the Brown family won the governorship.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Frank F. Merriam (incumbent) 405,362 54.85%
Republican George J. Hatfield 169,27822.91%
Republican Raymond L. Haight 124,10216.79%
Republican Francis Michael O'Connor18,6422.52%
Republican John F. Dockweiler (write-in)8,9661.21%
Republican Z. S. Leymel 8,1841.11%
Republican Culbert L. Olson (write-in)4,4690.60%
Total votes739,003 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Culbert L. Olson 483,483 41.97%
Democratic John F. Dockweiler 218,34218.96%
Democratic Daniel C. Murphy137,74011.96%
Democratic Raymond L. Haight 125,01210.85%
Democratic Herbert C. Legg80,5867.00%
Democratic J. F. T. O'Connor 71,9996.25%
Democratic William H. Neblett21,2191.84%
Democratic Teodoro Antonio Tomasini10,1420.88%
Democratic Frank F. Merriam (write-in)3,3400.29%
Total votes1,151,863 100.00%

Townsend Party primary

Results

Townsend primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Townsend Party Frank F. Merriam (write-in) [a] 5,35064.82%
Townsend Party John F. Dockweiler (write-in)1,47117.82%
Townsend Party Culbert L. Olson (write-in)1,43217.35%
Total votes8,253 100.00%

Progressive primary

Candidates

Progressive primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
California Progressive Party Raymond L. Haight 4,569 57.76%
California Progressive Party Culbert L. Olson 3,27140.09%
California Progressive Party William E. Riker 1702.15%
Total votes7,910 100.00%

Commonwealth primary

Candidates

Results

Commonwealth primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
CommonwealthRobert Noble274100.00%
Total votes274 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Results

1938 California gubernatorial election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Culbert L. Olson 1,391,734 52.49% +14.74%
Republican Frank F. Merriam (incumbent)1,171,01944.17%−4.71%
Progressive Raymond L. Haight 64,4182.43%−10.56%
CommonwealthRobert Noble23,7870.90%+0.90%
Scattering5050.02%
Majority220,7158.32%
Total votes2,651,463 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing +19.45%

Results by county

CountyCulbert L. Olson
Democratic
Frank F. Merriam
Republican
Raymond L. Haight
Progressive
Robert Noble
Commonwealth
Scattering
Write-in
MarginTotal votes cast [2]
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Alameda 109,01049.48%106,69448.43%3,8251.74%7530.34%390.02%2,3161.05%220,321
Alpine 2918.95%11071.90%149.15%00.00%00.00%-81-52.94%153
Amador 1,80352.47%1,48643.25%1323.84%150.44%00.00%3179.23%3,436
Butte 8,40848.45%8,24947.53%5423.12%1550.89%00.00%1590.92%17,354
Calaveras 1,81846.44%1,86647.66%2075.29%240.61%00.00%-48-1.23%3,915
Colusa 1,76841.11%2,33954.38%1683.91%260.60%00.00%-571-13.28%4,301
Contra Costa 23,78256.82%17,09640.84%8351.99%1390.33%40.01%6,68615.97%41,856
Del Norte 1,09243.58%1,32552.87%732.91%160.64%00.00%-233-9.30%2,506
El Dorado 3,37557.23%2,07935.26%4026.82%410.70%00.00%1,29621.98%5,897
Fresno 32,93755.52%22,72838.31%3,3705.68%2940.50%00.00%10,20917.21%59,329
Glenn 2,06839.88%2,92456.39%1683.24%250.48%00.00%-856-16.51%5,185
Humboldt 8,79546.00%9,61750.30%5712.99%1370.72%00.00%-822-4.30%19,120
Imperial 5,49545.47%6,25951.79%2031.68%1291.07%00.00%-764-6.32%12,086
Inyo 1,18442.44%1,45652.19%1354.84%150.54%00.00%-272-9.75%2,790
Kern 25,39258.66%16,11637.23%1,3323.08%4481.03%10.00%9,27621.43%43,289
Kings 5,54553.35%4,39542.28%3593.45%920.89%30.03%1,15011.06%10,394
Lake 1,57137.72%2,43858.54%912.18%651.56%00.00%-867-20.82%4,165
Lassen 2,76448.53%2,62446.08%2584.53%490.86%00.00%1402.46%5,695
Los Angeles 612,49955.76%446,06940.61%24,9582.27%14,5521.32%3390.03%166,43015.15%1,098,417
Madera 4,14857.11%2,80538.62%2733.76%370.51%00.00%1,34318.49%7,263
Marin 8,34043.46%10,44554.42%3511.83%520.27%40.02%-2,105-10.97%19,192
Mariposa 1,36254.50%1,04341.74%592.36%351.40%00.00%31912.77%2,499
Mendocino 5,35545.92%5,89750.57%2862.45%1231.05%00.00%-542-4.65%11,661
Merced 8,30354.05%6,36741.45%5473.56%1400.91%40.03%1,93612.60%15,361
Modoc 1,47248.26%1,41646.43%1324.33%300.98%00.00%561.84%3,050
Mono 44547.39%44647.50%424.47%60.64%00.00%-1-0.11%939
Monterey 9,73644.82%11,43652.65%4281.97%1220.56%00.00%-1,700-7.83%21,722
Napa 4,78642.03%6,27555.10%2612.29%650.57%10.01%-1,489-13.08%11,388
Nevada 3,49443.84%4,05250.84%3794.76%450.56%00.00%-558-7.00%7,970
Orange 24,25743.27%29,77453.11%1,1662.08%8631.54%40.01%-5,517-9.84%56,064
Placer 6,65358.92%3,83433.96%7476.62%570.50%00.00%2,81924.97%11,291
Plumas 2,37356.25%1,60738.09%1984.69%410.97%00.00%76618.16%4,219
Riverside 17,02645.93%18,89550.97%7371.99%4091.10%20.01%-1,869-5.04%37,069
Sacramento 32,88554.07%25,83642.48%1,9213.16%1740.29%50.01%7,04911.59%60,821
San Benito 1,91042.25%2,46654.55%1242.74%210.46%00.00%-556-12.30%4,521
San Bernardino 30,69651.47%27,51546.14%1,0011.68%4090.69%130.02%3,1815.33%59,634
San Diego 54,55252.84%45,89144.45%1,7491.69%1,0391.01%20.00%8,6618.39%103,233
San Francisco 132,34653.36%111,04644.77%3,8431.55%7810.31%190.01%21,3008.59%248,035
San Joaquin 22,34050.34%20,99047.30%8952.02%1470.33%50.01%1,3503.04%44,377
San Luis Obispo 6,66045.91%7,04648.57%6084.19%1921.32%00.00%-386-2.66%14,506
San Mateo 20,72347.85%21,57949.82%8011.85%2000.46%80.02%-856-1.98%43,311
Santa Barbara 10,87041.81%14,32555.10%6892.65%1070.41%50.02%-3,455-13.29%25,996
Santa Clara 32,99446.70%36,19151.23%1,2171.72%2260.32%200.03%-3,197-4.53%70,648
Santa Cruz 8,96245.17%10,19851.40%5312.68%1500.76%00.00%-1,236-6.23%19,841
Shasta 4,99456.26%3,44538.81%3443.88%941.06%00.00%1,54917.45%8,877
Sierra 71949.72%56539.07%14910.30%130.90%00.00%15410.65%1,446
Siskiyou 5,88248.97%5,14642.84%7946.61%1901.58%00.00%7366.13%12,012
Solano 9,03750.92%8,05145.36%5863.30%740.42%00.00%9865.56%17,748
Sonoma 12,20742.25%15,58253.93%9573.31%1400.48%90.03%-3,375-11.68%28,895
Stanislaus 12,73047.34%12,33345.86%1,5985.94%2260.84%60.02%3971.48%26,893
Sutter 3,09343.97%3,69152.47%2243.18%270.38%00.00%-598-8.50%7,035
Tehama 2,74044.99%2,88247.32%4277.01%410.67%00.00%-142-2.33%6,090
Trinity 1,08153.36%80839.88%1075.28%301.48%00.00%27313.47%2,026
Tulare 16,16250.29%14,57145.34%1,1133.46%2830.88%80.02%1,5914.95%32,137
Tuolumne 2,67253.80%2,09142.10%1683.38%360.72%00.00%58111.70%4,967
Ventura 11,26449.31%10,64746.61%7893.45%1390.61%20.01%6172.70%22,841
Yolo 3,99743.28%4,86552.67%3523.81%220.24%00.00%-868-9.40%9,236
Yuba 3,13348.65%3,09748.09%1822.83%260.40%20.03%360.56%6,440
Total1,391,73452.49%1,171,01944.17%64,4182.43%23,7870.90%5050.02%220,7158.32%2,651,463

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Progressive to Democratic

Notes

  1. Was not listed under Townsend in the general election

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at Primary Election Held on August 30, 1938 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. pp. 5–7. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  2. 1 2 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at General Election Held on November 8, 1938 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 20, 2024.