This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2020) |
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Brown: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 80–90% Nixon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in California |
---|
| ||
---|---|---|
Pre-vice presidency 36th Vice President of the United States Post-vice presidency 37th President of the United States
Judicial appointments Policies First term Second term Post-presidency Presidential campaigns Vice presidential campaigns
| ||
The 1962 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962. The Democratic incumbent, Pat Brown, ran for re-election against former U.S. vice president and 1960 Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon. In his concession speech the following morning, Nixon accused the media of favoring his opponent Brown, stating that it was his "last press conference" and "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more." [1] Six years later, Nixon was elected President of the United States, and exactly ten years after this press conference he was re-elected in a landslide.
Pat Brown was a relatively popular Democratic governor in California who was first elected in 1958. [2] However, he was seen as vulnerable due to criticisms of indecision and occasional errors in policy. [3]
In 1958, the Democratic Party had swept all but a single statewide office, and all of the incumbents were seeking reelection in 1962. [3] Despite 1958's near-sweep by Democrats and the state having more registered Democrats than Republicans (4,289,997 registered Democrats on election day 1962 compared to 3,002,038 registered Republicans), [3] at the time, California was generally considered a Republican stronghold, with Republican governors and senators from the end of World War II until the election of Democrat Clair Engle to the Senate in 1958, and Brown's election as governor the same year. The state had voted for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, and Nixon carried the state over John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election.
In 1962, with popular incumbent Senator Thomas Kuchel essentially guaranteed to win re-election, the Republican Party felt it could also gain the governorship and win the state back from the Democrats. They turned to former Vice President Richard Nixon, the biggest name at the time in the California Republican Party. [4] Nixon had a record of winning statewide elections in California, having been elected Senator in 1950, carrying the state twice (in 1952 and 1956) as the vice presidential candidate on the ticket with Dwight D. Eisenhower, and carrying the state against Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election. [4] [3] They also felt a convincing win could be a springboard for Nixon to challenge Kennedy again in 1964, since he narrowly lost to him in 1960. [4]
Primary elections were held on June 5, 1962. [5]
Brown, a relatively popular incumbent, faced no serious opposition in the Democratic Party primary. In whole, the Democratic primaries for statewide offices showed a lack of strong division in the party, with the exception of William McKesson's unsuccessful challenge to incumbent Glenn M. Anderson in the race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. [3]
Brown was endorsed by the liberal California Democratic Council, which put him on their slate of endorsed candidates at their convention, held January 26–28, 1962 in Fresno. Brown's camp made an effort of ensuring that none of the resolutions the council passed at their convention would provide fodder that a Republican general election opponent could use to embarrass Brown. [3]
Brown's camp emphasized accomplishments of Brown's legislative record, including programs related to water and education. [3] Public relations consultants played a role in reshaping Brown's image as a forceful and decisive leader. [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (incumbent) | 1,739,792 | 81.42% | |
Democratic | John C. Stuart | 103,654 | 4.85% | |
Democratic | Phillip Moore | 100,237 | 4.69% | |
Democratic | Alfred L. Hamilton | 90,472 | 4.23% | |
Republican | Joseph C. Shell (write-in) | 66,712 | 3.12% | |
Republican | Richard M. Nixon (write-in) | 35,883 | 1.68% | |
Total votes | 2,136,750 | 100.00% |
Nixon announced his candidacy for governor on September 27, 1961, roughly eleven months after losing the 1960 presidential election. His bid was largely seen as a step towards either a 1964 or 1968 presidential campaign. [3] Nixon's 1962 campaign was managed by H. R. Haldeman. [11]
On January 16, 1962, former governor Goodie Knight was forced to withdraw his campaign for the nomination after suffering a serious case of hepatitis. Knight had been a popular governor, and his withdrawal was beneficial to Nixon's prospects of capturing the nomination. [3] In the first week of March 1962, former lieutenant governor Harold J. Powers withdrew from the primary, due to lack of organizational and financial campaign for his candidacy. This left Nixon facing only the conservative California State Assembly minority leader Joseph C. Shell in the primary. Shell was a wealthy man, having earned his fortune in oil, and was seen as a militant leader of conservative faction of the Republican Party. [3] Shell received support from the John Birch Society, who he had advocated welcoming within the party. [3] [12]
Democrats took a hands-off approach to dealing with the Republican primary, letting Nixon and Shell duke it out between themselves without Democratic engagement. Nixon had wanted to hold a series of debates with Brown during the primary campaign season, but Brown did not engage in such debates with Nixon. [3]
Shell hoped to win the support of conservative Republicans, and hoped that there would be lower Republican primary turnout that would lead to the participating electorate having a significantly conservative lean. [3] In announcing his candidacy, Shell had claimed to be seeking the support of voters that supported,
A commitment to individual liberty limited only by those powers clearly enumerated in our constitution without reducing our ability to develop private property and free individual enterprise. [3]
In terms of party leadership support, Nixon had far more support from the California Republican Party's state central executive committee than Shell did. However, a fight emerged between Nixon and Shell backers in gaining organizational power at the county and precinct level organizations of the party. [3]
Nixon, on February 17, 1962 declared that he would not seek the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly (CRA). This was possibly due to the fact that he had previously, in his 1950 U.S. Senate primary, lost the endorsement of a subcommittee of the organization, and he perhaps was reluctant to seek support from the organization again. On February 17, 1962, Nixon declared that he would not, himself, provide backing to any candidate involved with the John Birch Society, remarking that he had, "no commitment to endorse any candidate who seeks or accepts the support of the John Birch Society, even if they were the Republican Party nominees. Nixon quickly recanted his decision not to seek the endorsement of the CRA, and decided to indicate that he would seek their nomination and would additionally propose a resolution at their convention which would renounce the John Birch Society. [3]
Nixon beat Shell for support of the subcommittee of the CRA's fact-finding committee by a 7–5 vote. He again beat Shell for the support of the full fact-finding committee's support in a 34–25 vote. In the floor vote of the CRA convention, Nixon beat Shell for the CRA's endorsement in a 263–176 vote. Additionally, at the convention, Nixon saw a supporter of his, former Kansas governor Fred Hall, elected as the CRA's president. At the convention, Nixon sponsored a resolution to repudiate the John Birch Society's president Robert W. Welch Jr. and urging members of the CRA to abandon the John Birch Society if they were members of it. A contentious floor fight took place over the proposed resolution, with conservatives opposing it. A compromise was reached to adopt the portion condemning Welch but to not adopt the portion urging CRA members to abandon membership in the John Birch Society. Any association with the John Birch Society seemed politically unhelpful to Nixon in a general election, so this resolution was seen by him and his campaign as helping set him up for greater chances of victory in a general election. [3]
Shell traveled extensively during his campaign by utilizing his own private plane. His campaign had decent financing and was effectively organized. A key argument he made in support of his candidacy was that the state's economy was threatened due to assailing spending by the Brown gubernatorial administration. He also attacked Brown's governance by alleging increased federal government influence over the state. Another key argument he made in support of his candidacy was that Nixon would be unable to beat Brown in a general election, arguing that Democratic-leaning voters would "solidify" against Nixon. Shell also levied accusations that either Nixon or supporters of Nixon's had resorted to "gutter tactics" by "whispering lies" about Shell's family. Shell also called into question Nixon's expertise on state government and challenged Nixon to televised debates. [3]
Nixon campaigned across the state, often addressing sizable and curious crowds. Nixon ignored attacks from Shell in hopes not to ward off conservative support in the general election. Nixon's speeches dealt with subjects such as states' rights, reforms to taxes and budgets, addressing crime, and government efficiency. It had been over a decade since Nixon had run for state office and he made a number of embarrassing political slip-ups that made him appear under-prepared, such as referring to the California State Capitol as the "state house". It was also used against Nixon that he was made to admit that he had made a factual error in his book Six Crises regarding its account of the case of Alger Hiss. [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Richard M. Nixon | 1,285,151 | 65.43% | |
Republican | Joseph C. Shell | 656,542 | 33.42% | |
Republican | William Potter Gale | 17,369 | 0.88% | |
Democratic | Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (write-in) | 5,236 | 0.27% | |
Total votes | 1,964,298 | 100.00% |
Although Nixon beat Shell in the primary, 1,285,151 votes (65.4 percent) to Shell's 656,542 (33.4 percent), the contest was bitter, and Nixon did not reach out to conservative Shell supporters, which weakened him in the general election. [12]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Prohibition | Robert L. Wyckoff | 1,944 | 100.00% | |
Total votes | 1,944 | 100.00% |
In a bitter and expensive campaign, Brown and Nixon campaigned with great zeal and effort. During the campaign, Nixon accused Brown of being weak on communism and crime. Brown alleged that Nixon was only interested in holding the governorship in order to utilize it as a steppingstone to the presidency. [11] Nixon's wife Pat campaigned with him. [15]
Two weeks after the Republican primary, Shell endorsed Nixon's candidacy. [5] Shell had conditioned an endorsement of Nixon on Nixon agreeing to make $200 million in cuts to the state budget and giving conservatives a share of the California delegates to the 1964 Republican National Convention. [3]
Harold J. Powers, who had dropped out of the Republican primary, endorsed Brown in the general election. [3]
Earl Warren, a Republican serving as Chief Justice of the United States and former governor of California, had long had a political feud with Nixon, despite Nixon and Warren being from the same state and the same party. Warren posed for photos with Brown, and told the press what a great job Brown was doing. Warren also had his son, Earl Jr., stump across the state for Brown and against Nixon. [16]
Nixon had a lead in the polls early on, but Brown lessened the margin as time went on, and pre-election polls showed Brown winning. [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (incumbent) | 3,037,109 | 51.89% | −7.86% | |
Republican | Richard M. Nixon | 2,740,351 | 46.82% | +6.65% | |
Prohibition | Robert L. Wyckoff | 69,700 | 1.19% | ||
Independent | Joseph C. Shell (write-in) | 3,166 | 0.05% | ||
Independent | Herbert Steiner (write-in) | 448 | 0.01% | ||
Independent | R. C. Irvine (write-in) | 159 | 0.00% | ||
Scattering | 2,299 | 0.04% | |||
Total votes | 5,853,232 | 100.00% | |||
Turnout | 57.50% | ||||
Democratic hold | Swing | -14.51% |
Pat Brown is the last Democrat to date to have carried Colusa County and Modoc County. Additionally, both Kern County and El Dorado County have backed a Democratic gubernatorial candidate only once since this election. [a]
County | Edmund G. Brown Democratic | Richard M. Nixon Republican | Robert L. Wyckoff Prohibition | Scattering [b] Write-in | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Alameda | 206,861 | 57.98% | 145,851 | 40.88% | 3,717 | 1.04% | 321 | 0.09% | 61,010 | 17.10% | 356,750 |
Alpine | 67 | 34.72% | 122 | 63.21% | 3 | 1.55% | 1 | 0.52% | -55 | -28.50% | 193 |
Amador | 2,811 | 58.16% | 1,941 | 40.16% | 71 | 1.47% | 10 | 0.21% | 870 | 18.00% | 4,833 |
Butte | 16,142 | 47.74% | 17,172 | 50.79% | 443 | 1.31% | 54 | 0.16% | -1,030 | -3.05% | 33,811 |
Calaveras | 2,379 | 46.37% | 2,655 | 51.75% | 92 | 1.79% | 4 | 0.08% | -276 | -5.38% | 5,130 |
Colusa | 2,320 | 52.06% | 2,056 | 46.14% | 77 | 1.73% | 3 | 0.07% | 264 | 5.92% | 4,456 |
Contra Costa | 91,150 | 55.49% | 71,192 | 43.34% | 1,811 | 1.10% | 124 | 0.08% | 19,958 | 12.15% | 164,277 |
Del Norte | 2,741 | 51.97% | 2,418 | 45.85% | 112 | 2.12% | 3 | 0.06% | 323 | 6.12% | 5,274 |
El Dorado | 6,572 | 56.25% | 4,842 | 41.44% | 242 | 2.07% | 27 | 0.23% | 1,730 | 14.81% | 11,683 |
Fresno | 68,187 | 57.78% | 48,211 | 40.85% | 1,479 | 1.25% | 136 | 0.12% | 19,976 | 16.93% | 118,013 |
Glenn | 3,299 | 48.70% | 3,353 | 49.50% | 116 | 1.71% | 6 | 0.09% | -54 | -0.80% | 6,774 |
Humboldt | 17,739 | 52.19% | 15,708 | 46.22% | 511 | 1.50% | 29 | 0.09% | 2,031 | 5.98% | 33,987 |
Imperial | 8,241 | 44.14% | 10,271 | 55.01% | 142 | 0.76% | 16 | 0.09% | -2,030 | -10.87% | 18,670 |
Inyo | 2,526 | 47.00% | 2,740 | 50.99% | 100 | 1.86% | 8 | 0.15% | -214 | -3.98% | 5,374 |
Kern | 48,737 | 52.10% | 43,342 | 46.33% | 1,376 | 1.47% | 95 | 0.10% | 5,395 | 5.77% | 93,550 |
Kings | 9,141 | 59.03% | 6,113 | 39.48% | 217 | 1.40% | 14 | 0.09% | 3,028 | 19.55% | 15,485 |
Lake | 3,315 | 44.42% | 4,041 | 54.15% | 105 | 1.41% | 2 | 0.03% | -726 | -9.73% | 7,463 |
Lassen | 3,500 | 62.50% | 1,968 | 35.14% | 121 | 2.13% | 11 | 0.20% | 1,352 | 27.36% | 5,600 |
Los Angeles | 1,191,724 | 51.83% | 1,080,113 | 46.98% | 24,986 | 1.09% | 2,421 | 0.11% | 111,611 | 4.85% | 2,299,244 |
Madera | 7,728 | 60.46% | 4,903 | 38.36% | 141 | 1.10% | 11 | 0.09% | 2,825 | 22.10% | 12,783 |
Marin | 27,664 | 45.38% | 32,720 | 53.67% | 503 | 0.83% | 79 | 0.13% | -5,056 | -8.29% | 60,966 |
Mariposa | 1,272 | 47.50% | 1,349 | 50.37% | 53 | 1.98% | 4 | 0.15% | -77 | -2.88% | 2.678 |
Mendocino | 8,704 | 51.50% | 7,936 | 46.96% | 249 | 1.47% | 12 | 0.07% | 768 | 4.54% | 16,901 |
Merced | 14,105 | 57.62% | 10,071 | 41.14% | 268 | 1.09% | 34 | 0.14% | 4,034 | 16.48% | 24,478 |
Modoc | 1,641 | 51.73% | 1,473 | 46.44% | 52 | 1.64% | 6 | 0.19% | 168 | 5.30% | 3,172 |
Mono | 488 | 36.12% | 840 | 62.18% | 23 | 1.70% | 0 | 0.00% | -352 | -26.05% | 1,351 |
Monterey | 24,801 | 46.52% | 28,000 | 52.52% | 476 | 0.89% | 36 | 0.07% | -3,199 | -6.00% | 53,313 |
Napa | 14,748 | 53.50% | 12,326 | 44.72% | 469 | 1.70% | 21 | 0.08% | 2,422 | 8.79% | 27,654 |
Nevada | 4,818 | 51.02% | 4,450 | 47.12% | 143 | 1.51% | 32 | 0.34% | 368 | 3.90% | 9,443 |
Orange | 112,152 | 39.16% | 169,962 | 59.35% | 3,832 | 1.34% | 431 | 0.15% | -57,810 | -20.19% | 286,377 |
Placer | 13,592 | 59.98% | 8,677 | 38.29% | 366 | 1.62% | 24 | 0.11% | 4,915 | 21.69% | 22,659 |
Plumas | 3,397 | 66.44% | 1,624 | 31.76% | 88 | 1.72% | 4 | 0.08% | 1,773 | 34.68% | 5,113 |
Riverside | 50,257 | 46.60% | 55,926 | 51.86% | 1,595 | 1.48% | 71 | 0.07% | -5,669 | -5.26% | 107,849 |
Sacramento | 115,462 | 60.69% | 71,788 | 37.74% | 2,542 | 1.34% | 446 | 0.23% | 43,674 | 22.96% | 190,238 |
San Benito | 2,527 | 48.30% | 2,640 | 50.46% | 64 | 1.22% | 1 | 0.02% | -113 | -2.16% | 5,232 |
San Bernardino | 88,437 | 51.68% | 80,054 | 46.78% | 2,501 | 1.46% | 133 | 0.08% | 8,383 | 4.90% | 171,125 |
San Diego | 153,389 | 42.40% | 201,969 | 55.83% | 6,101 | 1.69% | 315 | 0.09% | -48,580 | -13.43% | 361,774 |
San Francisco | 180,298 | 62.19% | 107,165 | 36.96% | 2,298 | 0.79% | 157 | 0.05% | 73,133 | 25.23% | 289,918 |
San Joaquin | 43,276 | 49.40% | 43,147 | 49.25% | 1,095 | 1.25% | 83 | 0.09% | 129 | 0.15% | 87,601 |
San Luis Obispo | 16,110 | 52.86% | 13,825 | 45.36% | 528 | 1.73% | 15 | 0.05% | 2,285 | 7.50% | 30,478 |
San Mateo | 90,464 | 51.88% | 82,115 | 47.09% | 1,670 | 0.96% | 127 | 0.07% | 8,349 | 4.79% | 174,376 |
Santa Barbara | 30,424 | 47.50% | 32,821 | 51.24% | 775 | 1.21% | 32 | 0.05% | -2,397 | -3.74% | 64,052 |
Santa Clara | 121,149 | 51.20% | 112,700 | 47.63% | 2,538 | 1.07% | 245 | 0.10% | 8,449 | 3.57% | 236,632 |
Santa Cruz | 17,354 | 44.93% | 20,580 | 53.28% | 656 | 1.70% | 34 | 0.09% | -3,226 | -8.35% | 38,624 |
Shasta | 14,753 | 63.97% | 7,858 | 34.07% | 378 | 1.64% | 75 | 0.33% | 6,895 | 29.90% | 23,064 |
Sierra | 676 | 57.98% | 461 | 39.54% | 29 | 2.49% | 0 | 0.00% | 215 | 18.44% | 1,166 |
Siskiyou | 7,718 | 59.98% | 4,942 | 38.41% | 190 | 1.48% | 18 | 0.14% | 2,776 | 21.57% | 12,868 |
Solano | 25,987 | 64.31% | 13,888 | 34.37% | 513 | 1.27% | 19 | 0.05% | 12,099 | 29.94% | 40,407 |
Sonoma | 29,373 | 49.19% | 29,647 | 49.65% | 643 | 1.08% | 53 | 0.09% | -274 | -0.46% | 59,716 |
Stanislaus | 30,431 | 53.64% | 25,417 | 44.80% | 789 | 1.39% | 99 | 0.17% | 5,014 | 8.84% | 56,736 |
Sutter | 4,816 | 41.19% | 6,734 | 57.59% | 142 | 1.21% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,918 | -16.40% | 11,692 |
Tehama | 5,077 | 51.36% | 4,591 | 46.44% | 200 | 2.02% | 18 | 0.18% | 486 | 4.92% | 9,886 |
Trinity | 2,201 | 64.58% | 1,148 | 33.69% | 53 | 1.56% | 6 | 0.18% | 1,053 | 30.90% | 3,408 |
Tulare | 24,598 | 49.08% | 24,914 | 49.71% | 584 | 1.17% | 24 | 0.05% | -316 | -0.63% | 50,120 |
Tuolumne | 3,631 | 52.48% | 3,187 | 46.06% | 94 | 1.36% | 7 | 0.10% | 444 | 6.42% | 6,919 |
Ventura | 37,777 | 53.46% | 31,899 | 45.15% | 914 | 1.29% | 68 | 0.10% | 5,878 | 8.32% | 70,658 |
Yolo | 13,334 | 60.67% | 8,311 | 37.82% | 293 | 1.33% | 39 | 0.18% | 5,023 | 22.86% | 21,977 |
Yuba | 5,028 | 53.77% | 4,184 | 44.74% | 131 | 1.40% | 8 | 0.09% | 844 | 9.03% | 9,351 |
Total | 3,037,109 | 51.89% | 2,740,351 | 46.82% | 69,700 | 1.19% | 6,072 | 0.10% | 296,758 | 5.07% | 5,853,232 |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2024) |
Brown not only won, but he won by a surprising[ to whom? ] 5%.[ citation needed ] The day after the results were announced, a stunned and frustrated Nixon announced he was retiring from politics. He famously stated, "Just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore". [21] [22] The speech increased sympathy for Nixon among the public, [21] but was also viewed at the time as the end of his political career. [21] [22] [23] Brown told President Kennedy that, "I don't see how he can ever recover", a view that Kennedy shared. [22]
Brown was the first Democratic Party governor reelected in California since 1853, and only the third governor of any party reelected since California extended gubernatorial terms to four-years in 1862 (after only Hiram Johnson and Earl Warren). [3] In the coinciding California State Legislature elections, the Democratic Party retained control of the State Legislature, marking the first time in the 20th century that the Democratic Party would hold control of the state's legislature for longer than a four-year period. The party won 53.9% of the cumulative popular vote in the State Legislature elections. In the coinciding United States House of Representatives elections in the state, Democrats gained nine seats, while Republicans lost one (the state had gained eight new seats in reapportionment after the 1960 United States census), and won 51.8% of the state's cumulative votes in its congressional races. All of the state's incumbent congressmen sought reelection, with three Republican incumbents and one Democratic incumbent losing reelection. The Democrats won seven of the eight newly created congressional seats, while Republicans won one. Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel won reelection as expected in the coinciding United States Senate election, capturing an overwhelming share of the vote in that election. [3]
Brown served out his second term, but failed to win a third term in 1966, losing reelection to future president Ronald Reagan. [24]
Nixon later re-entered politics when he ran for president again in 1968; he won that election, and was later re-elected, but he resigned in disgrace in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal. [23]
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Republican Senator Barry Goldwater in a landslide victory. Johnson was the fourth and most recent vice president to succeed the presidency following the death of his predecessor and win a full term in his own right. Johnson won the largest share of the popular vote for the Democratic Party in history at 61.1%. As of 2024, this remains the highest popular vote percentage of any candidate since the advent of widespread popular elections in 1824.
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he was later elected attorney general of California in 1950, before becoming the state's governor after the 1958 election.
Samuel William Yorty was an American politician, attorney, and radio host from Los Angeles, California. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the California State Assembly, but he is most remembered for his turbulent three terms as the 37th Mayor of Los Angeles from 1961 to 1973. Although Yorty spent almost all of his political career as a Democrat, he became a Republican in 1973.
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U.S. Senate in 1970 and served for one term. Since 2010, the party has held "Row C" on New York ballots—the third-place ballot position, directly below the Democratic and Republican parties—because it received the third-highest number of votes of any political party in the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 New York gubernatorial elections. The party is known for its strategy of attempting to influence the Republican Party in a more conservative direction.
Thomas Henry Kuchel was an American politician. A moderate Republican, he served as a US Senator from California from 1953 to 1969 and was the minority whip in the Senate, where he was the co-manager on the floor for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Kuchel voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, and 1964, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court, while Kuchel did not vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Sheridan Downey was an American lawyer and a Democratic politician from Wyoming and California. In 1934, he ran for lieutenant governor of California as Upton Sinclair's running mate in the "End Poverty in California" campaign. In 1938 he was elected U.S. Senator from California, and he served from 1939 to 1950.
The 1996 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, 1996, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year, in which Democrat Bill Clinton was re-elected president.
The 1980 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, coinciding with Ronald Reagan's victory in the presidential election. The 34 Senate seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter gave a huge boost to Republican Senate candidates, allowing them to flip 12 Democratic seats and win control of the chamber for the first time since the end of the 83rd Congress in January 1955. This was the first time since 1966 that any party successfully defended all their own seats.
The 1974 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 34 seats of Class 3 contested in regular elections. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon's resignation from the presidency, and Gerald Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon. Economic issues, specifically inflation and stagnation, were also a factor that contributed to Republican losses. As an immediate result of the November 1974 elections, Democrats made a net gain of three seats from the Republicans, as they defeated Republican incumbents in Colorado and Kentucky and picked up open seats in Florida and Vermont, while Republicans won the open seat in Nevada. Following the elections, at the beginning of the 94th U.S. Congress, the Democratic caucus controlled 60 seats, and the Republican caucus controlled 38 seats.
The 1970 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. It took place on November 3, with the 33 seats of Class 1 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. These races occurred in the middle of Richard Nixon's first term as president. The Democrats lost a net of three seats, while the Republicans and the Conservative Party of New York picked up one net seat each, and former Democrat Harry F. Byrd Jr. was re-elected as an independent.
The 1968 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 5, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year. The Republicans picked up five net seats in the Senate. This saw Republicans win a Senate seat in Florida for the first time since Reconstruction.
The 1966 United States Senate elections were elections on November 8, 1966, for the United States Senate which occurred midway through the second term of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. With divisions in the Democratic base over the Vietnam War, and with the traditional mid-term advantage of the party not holding the presidency, the Republicans took three Democratic seats, thereby breaking Democrats' 2/3rds supermajority. Despite Republican gains, the balance remained overwhelmingly in favor of the Democrats, who retained a 64–36 majority. Democrats were further reduced to 63–37, following the death of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968.
The 1938 United States Senate elections occurred in the middle of Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. The Republicans gained eight seats from the Democrats, though this occurred after multiple Democratic gains since the 1932 election, leading to the Democrats retaining a commanding lead over the Republicans with more than two-thirds of the legislative chamber.
The 1966 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1966. Incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Brown was defeated in his bid for re-election by Republican nominee and future President Ronald Reagan. This remains the last time an incumbent governor of California lost re-election, though one subsequent governor was recalled from office in 2003.
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.
From March 7 to June 6, 1972, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1972 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Richard Nixon was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1972 Republican National Convention held from August 21 to August 23, 1972, in Miami, Florida.
This is the electoral history of Ronald Reagan. Reagan, a Republican, served as the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989) and earlier as the 33rd governor of California (1967–1975). At 69 years, 349 days of age at the time of his first inauguration, Reagan was the oldest person to assume the presidency in the nation's history, until Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017 at the age of 70 years, 220 days. In 1984, Reagan won re-election at the age of 73 years, 274 days, and was the oldest person to win a US presidential election until Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election at the age of 77 years, 349 days.
The 1960 United States presidential election in California took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 32 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1992 United States elections elected state governors, the president of the United States, and members of the 103rd United States Congress. The election took place after the Soviet Union crumbled and the Cold War ended, as well as the redistricting that resulted from the 1990 census. Often considered "The Year Of The Woman," these elections brought an increased number of female politicians to Washington such as Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL). Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent president George H. W. Bush and businessman Ross Perot in the presidential election. The Democratic Party maintained their control of both chambers of Congress. This is the first Democratic trifecta since the Republican victory in the 1980 elections, the last one in the 20th century, and the last one overall until 2008.
The 1958 United States Senate election in California was held on November 4, 1958.