1958 California gubernatorial election

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1958 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California.svg
  1954 November 4, 1958 1962  
  Pat Brown, 1961.jpg William F. Knowland headshot.jpg
Nominee Pat Brown William Knowland
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote3,140,0762,110,911
Percentage59.75%40.16%

1958 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Brown:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Knowland:      50–60%

Governor before election

Goodwin Knight
Republican

Elected Governor

Pat Brown
Democratic

The 1958 California gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 4. Incumbent governor Goodwin Knight initially ran for re-election to a third term, but eventually withdrew and ran for election to the Senate. Incumbent senator William Knowland switched places with Knight to run for governor, but was defeated in a landslide by Democratic Attorney General Pat Brown, who won the first of his two terms as governor of California.

Contents

Knowland's decision to run for governor came in spite of strong opposition from Knight, who had wanted to run for re-election rather than for the Senate. Knowland's use of heavy-handed tactics to force Knight from the race, along with labor mobilization against Proposition 18, was a major factor in the Democratic landslide in California in 1958. [1] [2]

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on June 3, 1958.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Edmund G. "Pat" Brown 1,890,622 82.62%
Republican William F. Knowland 313,38513.69%
Democratic Donald Donaldson84,4493.69%
Total votes2,288,456 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican William F. Knowland 1,290,106 77.48%
Democratic Edmund G. "Pat" Brown 374,87922.52%
Total votes1,664,985 100.00%

General election results

California was considered a Republican stronghold in the post-World War II era, electing Republican governors Earl Warren and Goodwin Knight, as well as senators Richard Nixon, Knowland, and Thomas Kuchel. Knowland was a prestigious two-term Senator who had served as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader. His seat was considered safe going into the 1958 midterm elections, but he stunned everyone when he announced his intention to run for governor instead of re-election to the Senate. This was especially surprising because California had a relatively popular Republican governor in Goodwin Knight who was also expected to be re-elected. Knowland coerced Knight into a "backroom deal" in which Knowland and Knight would "trade places", with Knight running for Knowland's Senate seat. Knight really had no desire to be Senator and in later years lamented how Knowland "strongarmed" him into the switch. Knowland thought being governor would enhance his chances of challenging another Californian, Richard Nixon, for the 1960 Republican presidential nomination. For their part, the Democrats nominated popular state Attorney General Pat Brown, who was the only Democrat that held a statewide office in a Republican leaning state. As it turned out, the Knowland-Knight switch was not popular with California voters. Brown steadily gained in the polls and defeated Knowland for governor, and Knight lost to Congressman Clair Engle in the Senate race.

1958 California gubernatorial election [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Edmund G. "Pat" Brown 3,140,076 59.75% +16.59%
Republican William F. Knowland 2,110,91140.16%−16.67%
Independent William P. Gale (write-in)2,3010.04%
IndependentL. A. Delaney (write-in)5050.01%
IndependentHerbert Steiner (write-in)2390.00%
Scattering1,7450.03%
Majority1,029,16519.58%
Total votes5,255,777 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing +33.26%

Results by county

Brown's landslide victory ended many streaks of Republican dominance in various counties throughout the state. Brown was the first Democrat to ever win Imperial County and Riverside County in a gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, this was the first election since 1859 in which Humboldt County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1882 in which Marin County and San Mateo County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1902 in which Monterey County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1906 in which Nevada County, San Benito County, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Cruz County, and Sutter County voted for a Democratic candidate; and the first since 1910 in which Calaveras County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Lake County, Mendocino County, Napa County, Sonoma County, Tehama County voted for a Democratic candidate. Brown also won the largest share for a Democrat in Alpine County since 1882 and in Orange County since the latter's establishment in 1889. Those two counties, along with Mono County and Santa Barbara County were the most historically reliably Republican counties that Brown failed to flip. [lower-alpha 1]

Conversely, as of 2024, this election is also the last time that a Democrat has carried Glenn County, Inyo County, Sutter County, and Tulare County. Moreover, a Democratic candidate has only carried Butte County, Calaveras County, and Mariposa County in one election since 1958. [lower-alpha 2]

CountyEdmund G. Brown
Democratic
William F. Knowland
Republican
William P. Gale
Write-in
All Others [lower-alpha 3]
Write-in
MarginTotal votes cast [4]
# %# %# %# %# %
Alameda 228,10564.84%123,37235.07%1290.04%197 [lower-alpha 4] 0.06%104,73329.77%351,803
Alpine 7743.50%10056.50%00.00%00.00%-23-12.99%177
Amador 2,66564.23%1,48335.74%00.00%10.02%1,18228.49%4,149
Butte 16,88655.23%13,67744.74%100.03%00.00%3,20910.50%30,573
Calaveras 3,06758.99%2,08840.16%440.85%00.00%97918.83%5,199
Colusa 2,92464.04%1,64235.96%00.00%00.00%1,28228.08%4,566
Contra Costa 95,12865.14%50,81234.79%00.00%1040.07%44,31630.34%146,044
Del Norte 3,36862.05%2,06037.95%00.00%00.00%1,30824.10%5,428
El Dorado 5,72066.43%2,88933.55%00.00%1 [lower-alpha 5] 0.01%2,83132.88%8,610
Fresno 72,69266.84%35,74732.87%3220.30%00.00%36,94533.97%108,761
Glenn 4,19061.46%2,62538.51%10.01%10.01%1,56522.96%6,817
Humboldt 21,01362.12%12,79937.84%00.00%14 [lower-alpha 6] 0.04%8,21424.28%33,826
Imperial 8,58051.93%7,94348.07%00.00%00.00%6373.86%16,523
Inyo 2,78053.92%2,37446.04%00.00%20.04%4067.87%5,156
Kern 52,58762.87%30,88936.93%220.03%140 [lower-alpha 7] 0.1721,69825.94%83,638
Kings 9,22768.33%4,26431.58%50.04%70.05%4,96336.75%13,503
Lake 3,41155.72%2,71144.28%00.00%00.00%70011.43%6,122
Lassen 3,55369.68%1,54530.30%10.02%00.00%2,00839.38%5,099
Los Angeles 1,254,22657.91%909,42941.99%1,1200.05%996 [lower-alpha 8] 0.05%344,79715.92%2,165,771
Madera 8,13368.95%3,66331.05%00.00%00.00%4,47037.89%11,796
Marin 29,09655.98%22,83243.93%210.04%260.05%6,26412.05%51,975
Mariposa 1,43758.01%1,04041.99%00.00%00.00%39716.03%2,477
Mendocino 10,75963.71%6,11636.22%00.00%130.08%4,64327.49%16,888
Merced 15.43067.79%7,32832.19%00.00%40.02%8,10235.59%22,762
Modoc 2,01062.77%1,19237.23%00.00%00.00%81825.55%3,202
Mono 46144.41%57755.59%00.00%00.00%-116-11.18%1,038
Monterey 26,67656.12%20,85343.87%80.02%00.00%5,82312.25%47,537
Napa 14,54460.95%9,30939.01%00.00%90.04%5,23521.94%23,862
Nevada 5,03558.20%3,60141.63%00.00%150.17%1,43416.58%8,651
Orange 85,36446.30%98,72953.55%00.00%2590.14%-13,365-7.25%184,352
Placer 13,42268.75%6,09331.21%90.05%00.00%7,32937.54%19,524
Plumas 3,71474.16%1,27725.50%00.00%170.34%2,43748.66%5,088
Riverside 46,61152.65%41,82447.24%700.08%24 [lower-alpha 9] 0.03%4,7875.41%88,529
Sacramento 107,67970.95%44,02729.01%520.03%00.00%63,65241.94%151,758
San Benito 3,21359.53%2,18240.43%20.04%00.00%1,03119.10%5,397
San Bernardino 86,88258.33%61,89141.55%1240.08%480.03%24,99116.78%148,945
San Diego 150,92551.71%140,73448.22%1400.05%73 [lower-alpha 10] 0.03%10,1913.49%291,872
San Francisco 219,41370.79%90,43029.17%660.02%60 [lower-alpha 11] 0.02%128,98341.61%309,969
San Joaquin 48,28462.58%28,80737.34%330.04%320.04%19,47725.24%77,156
San Luis Obispo 15,31556.78%11,64643.17%00.00%130.05%3.66913.60%26,974
San Mateo 97,47561.76%60,21538.15%550.03%83 [lower-alpha 12] 0.05%37,26023.61%157,828
Santa Barbara 23,44049.43%23,84950.50%120.03%21 [lower-alpha 13] 0.04%-509-1.08%47,222
Santa Clara 108,73259.50%73,87440.42%00.00%1420.08%34,85819.07%182,748
Santa Cruz 17,63551.58%16,52848.34%00.00%25 [lower-alpha 14] 0.07%1,1073.24%34,188
Shasta 14,02471.24%5,64528.68%100.05%60.03%8,37942.57%19,685
Sierra 82664.89%44735.11%00.00%00.00%37929.77%1,273
Siskiyou 8,74767.34%4,23332.59%100.08%00.00%4,51434.75%12,990
Solano 27,42969.79%11,84730.14%00.00%270.07%15,58239.65%39,303
Sonoma 30,84157.04%23,21642.94%00.00%140.03%7,62514.10%54,071
Stanislaus 31,98462.50%19,16837.46%00.00%230.04%12,81625.04%51,175
Sutter 5,03250.10%5,00949.87%30.03%00.00%230.23%10,044
Tehama 5,86063.50%3,36836.50%00.00%00.00%2,49227.00%9,228
Trinity 2,31569.37%1,01430.39%00.00%80.24%1,30138.99%3,337
Tulare 25,66858.19%18,40741.73%00.00%350.08%7,26116.46%44,110
Tuolumne 4,77166.66%2,37433.17%120.17%00.00%2,39733.49%7,157
Ventura 32,78961.63%20,36838.28%200.04%24 [lower-alpha 15] 0.05%12,42123.35%53,201
Yolo 13,01470.27%5,48529.62%00.00%200.11%7,52940.66%18,519
Yuba 4,99260.43%3,26439.51%00.00%50.06%1,72820.92%8,261
Total3,140,07659.75%2,110,91140.16%2,3010.04%2,4890.05%1,029,16519.58%5,255,777

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

  1. Pat Brown's son, Jerry Brown, would ultimately flip Alpine, Orange, and Santa Barbara counties in his 1978 reelection landslide, but Mono County would not vote Democratic until 1998.
  2. In 1978
  3. These votes are Scattering unless otherwise noted in each county
  4. 42 for Delaney, 52 for Steiner
  5. 1 for Delaney
  6. 7 for Delaney
  7. 116 for Delaney, 3 for Steiner
  8. 233 for Delaney, 112 for Steiner
  9. 1 for Delaney, 8 for Steiner
  10. 19 for Delaney, 6 for Steiner
  11. 19 for Delaney, 41 for Steiner
  12. 18 for Delaney, 15 for Steiner
  13. 21 for Delaney
  14. 25 for Delaney
  15. 3 for Delaney, 2 for Steiner

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References

  1. Starr, Kevin (2011). Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford University Press. p. 212-216. ISBN   9780195153774.
  2. Anderson, Totton J. (1959). "The 1958 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 12 (1). [University of Utah, Sage Publications, Inc., Western Political Science Association]: 276–300. ISSN   0043-4078. JSTOR   444055 . Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  3. 1 2 California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote Direct Primary Election June 3, 1958. Sacramento, California. p. 3. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  4. 1 2 California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote General Election November 4, 1958. Sacramento, California. p. 3. Retrieved July 20, 2024.

Further reading

Statistics