1966 California gubernatorial election

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1966 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California.svg
  1962 November 8, 1966 1970  
  Ronald-Reagan-governor-California.jpg Pat Brown, 1963.jpg
Nominee Ronald Reagan Pat Brown
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote3,742,9132,749,174
Percentage57.55%42.27%

1966 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
1966 California gubernatorial election by Congressional District.svg
Reagan:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Brown:     50–60%     60–70%     80–90%

Governor before election

Pat Brown
Democratic

Elected Governor

Ronald Reagan
Republican

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.

Contents

Background

Incumbent governor Pat Brown had been twice elected with significant accomplishments, such as the construction of the state highway system. [1] After his re-election victory over former vice president Richard Nixon in 1962, Brown was strongly considered for Lyndon B. Johnson's running mate in 1964. [2] However, Brown's popularity began to sag amidst the civil disorders of the Watts riots and the early student protests at the University of California, Berkeley including the Free Speech Movement. [3]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Pat Brown (incumbent) 1,355,262 51.91%
Democratic Samuel William Yorty 981,08837.58%
Democratic Carlton B. Goodlett 95,4763.66%
Democratic Wallace James Duffy77,0292.95%
Democratic Dale Alexander43,4531.66%
Democratic Ronald Reagan (write-in)27,4221.05%
Democratic Ingram W. Goad18,0880.69%
Democratic George Christopher (write-in)13,0580.50%
Total votes2,610,876 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

California's liberal Republicans including George Christopher leveled attacks on Ronald Reagan for his conservative positions. [5] In response, Reagan popularized the eleventh commandment created by California Republican Party chairman Gaylord Parkinson. In his 1990 autobiography An American Life , Reagan attributed the rule to Parkinson, explained its origin, and claimed to have followed it, writing, "The personal attacks against me during the primary finally became so heavy that the state Republican chairman, Gaylord Parkinson, postulated what he called the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. It's a rule I followed during that campaign and have ever since." [6] Parkinson used the phrase as common ground to prevent a split in the party. [5]

Polls in February 1966 showed Christopher with a seven-point lead over Brown and Brown leading Reagan by four, so Brown sought to influence the Republican primary in Reagan's favor by having operatives pass negative claims against Christopher to columnist Drew Pearson. [7]

Results

Republican primary results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Ronald Reagan 1,417,623 64.68%
Republican George Christopher 675,68330.83%
Republican Warren N. Dorn44,8122.04%
Republican William Penn Patrick 40,8871.87%
Republican Joseph R. Maxwell7,0520.32%
Republican Samuel William Yorty (write-in)3,9930.18%
Republican Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (write-in)1,7000.08%
Total votes2,191,750 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

With the nomination of Reagan, a well-known and charismatic political outsider-actor, the Republicans seized upon Brown's sudden unpopularity evidenced by a tough battle in the Democratic primary. [8] Nixon worked tirelessly behind the scenes and Reagan trumpeted his law-and-order campaign message, going into the general election with a great deal of momentum. After pollsters discovered that the Berkeley student protests were a major priority of Republican voters, Reagan repeatedly promised to "clean up the mess at Berkeley". [9]

At first, Brown tried to smear Reagan's conservative supporters with "lame Nazi metaphors". [10] After Reagan deftly parried that tactic, Brown made a serious gaffe. [10] He ran a television commercial in which he used a rhetorical question to remind a group of elementary school children that John Wilkes Booth, another actor, had killed Abraham Lincoln. [10] Brown's crude comparison of Reagan to Booth based on their common background as actors—in the state that happens to be home to Hollywood—did not go over well with the California electorate. [10] [11] Within 48 hours, Reagan had overtaken Brown in the polls. [10]

With a lead that grew throughout September and October, Reagan won by over 990,000 votes, aided by traditionally Democratic working-class areas in Los Angeles and elsewhere. [12] Brown won in only three counties, Alameda, Plumas, and San Francisco. He narrowly won Alameda by about 2,000 votes and Plumas by about 100 votes.

Results

1966 California gubernatorial election [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Ronald Reagan 3,742,913 57.55% +10.74%
Democratic Pat Brown (incumbent)2,749,17442.27%−9.62%
Scattering11,3580.17%
Majority993,73915.28%
Total votes6,503,445 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing +20.35%

Results by county

CountyRonald Reagan
Republican
Edmund G. Brown
Democratic
Scattering
Write-in
MarginTotal votes cast [13]
# %# %# %# %
Alameda 189,05549.54%190,96850.04%1,6070.42%-1,913-0.50%381,630
Alpine 14865.78%7734.22%00.00%7131.56%225
Amador 2,98558.29%2,13241.63%40.08%85316.66%5,121
Butte 25,44367.48%12,26332.52%00.00%13,18034.95%37,706
Calaveras 3,81067.72%1,81232.21%40.07%1,99835.51%5,626
Colusa 2,80662.07%1,71337.89%20.04%1,09324.18%4,521
Contra Costa 107,54354.79%87,52544.59%1,2170.62%20,01810.20%196,285
Del Norte 3,40963.96%1,91835.98%30.06%1,49127.97%5,330
El Dorado 9,18962.97%5,37836.86%250.17%3,81126.12%14,592
Fresno 70,18253.90%59,86945.98%1670.13%10,3137.92%130,218
Glenn 4,67666.33%2,37133.63%30.04%2,30532.70%7,050
Humboldt 19,21057.16%14,37442.77%230.07%4,83614.39%33,607
Imperial 12,37262.84%7,30737.12%80.04%5,06525.73%19,687
Inyo 3,96166.14%2,02333.78%50.08%1,93832.36%5,989
Kern 64,71662.62%38,54337.29%960.09%26,17325.32%103,355
Kings 9,95755.77%7,89044.19%70.04%2,06711.58%17,854
Lake 5,49963.01%3,21736.86%110.13%2,28226.15%8,727
Lassen 3,19053.95%2,72346.05%00.00%4677.90%5,913
Los Angeles 1,389,99557.18%1,037,66342.68%3,4350.14%352,33214.49%2,431,093
Madera 7,49054.13%6,33545.78%120.09%1,1558.35%13,837
Marin 40,41157.02%30,23042.66%2270.32%10,18114.37%70,868
Mariposa 1,81161.45%1,13338.45%30.10%67823.01%2,947
Mendocino 10,16159.76%6,82740.15%150.09%3,33419.61%17,003
Merced 14,10352.98%12,49946.96%160.06%1,6046.03%26,618
Modoc 1,94662.67%1,15637.23%30.10%79025.44%3,105
Mono 1,20577.84%34322.16%00.00%86255.68%1,548
Monterey 35,94460.96%22,92338.88%960.16%13,02122.08%58,963
Napa 17,74059.45%12,06040.42%400.13%5,68019.03%29,840
Nevada 7,37365.80%3,82334.12%90.08%3,55031.68%11,205
Orange 293,41372.06%113,27527.82%4660.11%180,13844.24%407,154
Placer 14,66454.55%12,18745.33%320.12%2,4779.21%26,883
Plumas 2,65849.15%2,74750.80%30.06%-89-1.65%5,408
Riverside 84,50162.35%50,11236.98%9070.67%34,38925.38%135,520
Sacramento 109,80150.85%105,86149.03%2620.12%3,9401.82%215,924
San Benito 3,56560.96%2,28339.04%00.00%1,28221.92%5,848
San Bernardino 121,91662.13%74,12037.77%1870.10%47,79624.36%196,223
San Diego 252,07063.76%142,89036.14%3980.10%109,18027.62%395,358
San Francisco 114,79641.06%164,43558.82%3410.12%-49,639-17.76%279,572
San Joaquin 54,64760.73%35,28139.21%510.06%19,36621.52%89,979
San Luis Obispo 21,52862.52%12,89137.44%130.04%8,63725.08%34,432
San Mateo 107,49853.63%92,65446.23%2760.14%14,8447.41%200,428
Santa Barbara 50,28463.21%28,85336.27%4140.52%21,43126.94%79,551
Santa Clara 164,97055.33%132,79344.54%4100.14%32,17710.79%298,173
Santa Cruz 26,98861.42%16,91338.49%420.10%10,07522.93%43,943
Shasta 15,15554.76%12,48645.12%320.12%2,6699.64%27,673
Sierra 65055.27%52644.73%00.00%12410.54%1,176
Siskiyou 7,05754.17%5,96245.76%90.07%1,0958.40%13,028
Solano 23,18750.11%23,04749.81%390.08%1400.30%46,273
Sonoma 41,51660.57%26,89839.24%1260.18%14,61821.33%68,540
Stanislaus 31,47354.36%26,41845.63%100.02%5,0558.73%57,901
Sutter 9,82870.43%4,12629.57%00.00%5,70240.86%13,954
Tehama 6,62962.94%3,89136.94%120.11%2,73826.00%10,532
Trinity 2,05062.23%1,24237.70%20.06%80824.53%3,294
Tulare 33,09559.91%22,10940.02%410.07%10,98619.89%55,245
Tuolumne 4,84558.16%3,47941.76%60.07%1,36616.40%8,330
Ventura 580,6860.82%37,22438.99%1810.19%20,84421.83%95,473
Yolo 13,07349.97%13,03249.81%570.22%410.16%26,162
Yuba 6,65860.50%4,34439.47%30.03%2,31421.03%11,005
Total3,742,91357.55%2,749,17442.27%11,3580.17%993,73915.28%6,503,445

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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References

  1. Cannon 2003 , pp. 3–5
  2. "California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown". Paley Center. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  3. Cannon 2003 , pp. 6–9
  4. 1 2 California Secretary of State. California Statement of Vote Direct Primary Election June 7, 1966. Sacramento, California. p. 6. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Wilcox, David C. (April 8, 2002). "The "Eleventh Commandment"". Enter Stage Right. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  6. Reagan, Ronald (1990). An American Life. Simon and Schuster. p. 150.
  7. Cannon 2003 , pp. 146–147
  8. Cannon 2003 , pp. 147–150
  9. Kerr, Clark (2001). The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967, Volume 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 288. ISBN   9780520925014 . Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Reagan, Michael; Denney, Jim (2010), The New Reagan Revolution: How Ronald Reagan's Principles Can Restore America's Greatness , p.  111, ISBN   978-0-312-64454-3
  11. Cannon 2003 , pp. 151–152
  12. Cannon 2003 , pp. 156–160
  13. 1 2 California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote and Supplement November 8, 1966 General Election. Sacramento, California. p. 6. Retrieved July 21, 2024.

Further reading