1974 California gubernatorial election

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1974 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California.svg
  1970 November 5, 1974 1978  
  Jerry Brown 1974.jpg Houston I. Flournoy, 1971 Color Correction.jpg
Nominee Jerry Brown Houston Flournoy
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote3,131,6482,952,954
Percentage50.11%47.25%

1974 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
1974 California gubernatorial election by Congressional District.svg
Brown:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Flournoy:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Governor before election

Ronald Reagan
Republican

Elected Governor

Jerry Brown
Democratic

The 1974 California gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. The primary elections occurred on June 4, 1974. Incumbent Governor and former actor Ronald Reagan retired after two terms. Democratic Secretary of State Jerry Brown, son of former Governor Pat Brown, defeated Republican Controller Houston I. Flournoy in the general election. This is the first election since 1958 to not feature a Republican candidate that went on to become a U.S. president. With Brown’s election, California had a Democratic Governor and two Democratic Senators (John V. Tunney and Alan Cranston) for the first time since the Civil War. This is the earliest California gubernatorial election to feature a major party candidate who is still alive as of 2024.

Contents

Background

For the first time since 1958, the incumbent governor of California (in this case, Ronald Reagan) was not running for reelection, in either the primary or general election. This led to a pair of hotly contested primary elections. On the Republican side, Lieutenant Governor Edwin Reinecke ran against State Controller Houston I. Flournoy. The moderate Flournoy won a surprisingly easy victory over the more conservative Reinecke. On the Democratic side, there were numerous contenders for the nomination, including Secretary of State (and son of former Governor Pat Brown) Jerry Brown, Assembly Speaker Bob Moretti, and the mayor of San Francisco, Joseph Alioto. Brown ultimately won the primary, easily outdistancing his nearest rival Alioto.

Brown had statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats outnumbered Republicans in California, and maintained a lead in most of the early polls. Flournoy began to gain in the polls as the election approached, but Brown won, although by a much smaller margin than predicted. Coincidentally, when Brown ran for Secretary of State four years earlier, he defeated James Flournoy – no relation to Houston – in a very close election.

Primary results

Democratic Party

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Edmund G. Brown Jr. 1,085,752 37.86%
Democratic Joseph Alioto 544,00718.97%
Democratic Bob Moretti 478,46916.68%
Democratic William M. Roth 293,68610.24%
Democratic Jerome R. Waldie 227,4897.93%
Democratic Baxter Ward 79,7452.78%
Democratic Herbert Hafif77,5052.70%
Democratic Alex A. Aloia18,4000.64%
Democratic Conie R. Robertson11,4930.40%
Democratic George Henry Wagner8,9550.31%
Democratic Jim Wedworth7,9730.28%
Democratic Joseph Francis Brouillette7,9060.28%
Democratic John Hancock Abbott6,9610.24%
Democratic Josephum S. Ramos6,7210.23%
Democratic Eileen Anderson6,6660.23%
Democratic Chris Musun3,4950.12%
Democratic Russ Priebe1,4270.05%
Democratic Scattering1,3490.05%
Total votes2,867,999 100.00%

Republican Party

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Houston I. Flournoy 1,164,015 62.96%
Republican Ed Reinecke 556,25930.09%
Republican James Ware36,7841.99%
Republican Glenn Mitchel31,5181.70%
Republican J. F. Stay29,2971.58%
Republican William Nelson22,5971.22%
Republican Scattering8,3550.45%
Total votes1,848,825 100.00%

American Independent Party

American Independent primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
American Independent Edmon V. Kasier 12,408 95.15%
American Independent Scattering6334.85%
Total votes13,041 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

Peace and Freedom primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Keathley 2,111 28.06%
Peace and Freedom Lester Higby1,85524.65%
Peace and Freedom C. T. Weber1,82224.22%
Peace and Freedom Trudy Saposhnek1,41718.83%
Peace and Freedom Scattering3194.24%
Total votes7,524 100.00%

General election results

1974 California gubernatorial election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Edmund G. Brown Jr. 3,131,648 50.12% +4.98%
Republican Houston I. Flournoy 2,952,95447.26%−5.57%
American Independent Edmon V. Kaiser83,8691.34%+0.33%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Keathley75,0041.20%+0.19%
Scattering4,5950.07%
Majority178,6942.86%
Total votes6,248,070 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing +10.56%

Results by county

CountyEdmund G. Brown Jr.
Democratic
Houston I. Flournoy
Republican
Edmon V. Kaiser
American Independent
Elizabeth Keathley
Peace & Freedom
MarginTotal votes cast [a] [2]
# %# %# %# %# %
Alameda 200,16560.15%123,65637.16%3,5881.08%5,3411.61%76,50922.99%332,750
Alpine 18544.90%21251.46%51.21%102.43%-27-6.55%412
Amador 3,19846.48%3,48350.63%1412.05%580.84%-285-4.14%6,880
Butte 17,00741.47%22,49954.86%8592.09%6431.57%-5,492-13.39%41,008
Calaveras 2,70241.25%3,70956.63%871.33%520.79%-1,007-15.37%6,550
Colusa 1,88442.16%2,50356.01%541.21%280.63%-619-13.85%4,469
Contra Costa 97,03848.31%99,47049.52%2,3721.18%1,9750.98%-2,432-1.21%200,855
Del Norte 2,14951.60%1,92146.12%541.30%410.98%2285.47%4,165
El Dorado 8,07646.09%8,92250.92%3421.95%1831.04%-846-4.83%17,523
Fresno 61,59652.41%53,30845.36%1,3371.14%1,2771.09%8,2887.05%117,518
Glenn 2,64540.86%3,67556.77%1151.78%390.60%-1,030-15.91%6,474
Humboldt 22,80558.66%14,95838.48%3190.82%7922.04%7,84720.19%38,875
Imperial 9,03349.04%9,01148.92%2031.10%1710.93%220.12%18,418
Inyo 2,41741.54%3,23855.65%1061.82%581.00%-821-14.11%5,819
Kern 44,82848.29%45,77549.31%1,6161.74%6210.67%-947-1.02%92,840
Kings 7,44452.11%6,54045.78%1631.14%1380.97%9046.33%14,285
Lake 4,73345.71%5,38151.97%1591.54%810.78%-648-6.26%10,354
Lassen 3,11157.13%2,16539.76%1172.15%520.96%94617.37%5,445
Los Angeles 1,059,53352.84%898,80844.82%24,6011.23%22,2231.11%160,7258.02%2,005,165
Madera 5,58451.17%5,13747.08%1241.14%670.61%4474.10%10,912
Marin 36,38445.84%40,61951.18%9051.14%1,4561.83%-4,235-5.34%79,364
Mariposa 1,65845.28%1,89351.69%661.80%451.23%-235-6.42%3,662
Mendocino 9,15850.31%8,37346.00%3121.71%3601.98%7854.31%18,203
Merced 12,77951.89%11,33946.05%3181.29%1890.77%1,4405.85%24,625
Modoc 1,39544.16%1,70553.97%411.30%180.57%-310-9.81%3,159
Mono 81739.45%1,16156.06%552.66%381.83%-344-16.61%2,071
Monterey 28,83246.09%32,21851.50%7481.20%7641.22%-3,386-5.41%62,562
Napa 15,20047.44%16,04850.09%4411.38%3501.09%-848-2.65%32,039
Nevada 5,22541.00%7,10155.72%2491.95%1691.33%-1,876-14.72%12,744
Orange 212,63840.60%297,87056.87%8,1981.57%5,0900.97%-85,232-16.27%523,796
Placer 15,74450.50%14,51046.54%5661.82%3581.15%1,2343.96%31,178
Plumas 3,03155.77%2,27941.93%661.21%591.09%75213.84%5,435
Riverside 70,51547.93%73,10249.69%2,1151.44%1,3740.93%-2,587-1.76%147,106
Sacramento 117,71151.62%104,59545.86%2,8121.23%2,9341.29%13,1165.75%228,052
San Benito 2,72245.05%3,19952.95%600.99%611.01%-477-7.89%6,042
San Bernardino 87,13349.85%82,61147.27%3,6242.07%1,4130.81%4,5222.59%174,782
San Diego 196,93042.82%249,44454.24%7,9991.74%5,5011.20%-52,514-11.42%459,874
San Francisco 136,89661.81%78,75935.56%1,8060.82%4,0091.81%58,13726.25%221,470
San Joaquin 38,42945.69%43,74452.01%1,2841.53%6430.76%-5,315-6.32%84,100
San Luis Obispo 19,42947.82%20,30049.96%3940.97%5101.26%-871-2.14%40,633
San Mateo 91,80849.62%88,23547.69%2,6221.42%2,3611.28%3,5731.93%185,026
Santa Barbara 42,22145.99%47,26351.48%8540.93%1,4701.60%-5,042-5.49%91,808
Santa Clara 166,76050.63%153,76146.69%4,6281.41%4,2011.28%12,9993.95%329,350
Santa Cruz 28,60048.67%27,75047.23%8221.40%1,5872.70%8501.45%58,789
Shasta 15,76455.51%11,71641.25%6372.24%2841.00%4,04814.25%28,401
Sierra 62952.99%51343.22%262.19%191.60%1169.77%1,187
Siskiyou 6,51553.93%5,22943.28%2011.66%1361.13%1,28610.64%12,081
Solano 24,95554.43%19,52442.58%5911.29%7811.70%5,43111.84%45,851
Sonoma 40,75648.48%40,33947.98%1,0771.28%1,8982.26%4170.50%84,070
Stanislaus 27,93147.97%29,18650.13%6731.16%4300.74%-1,255-2.16%58,220
Sutter 5,14139.32%7,64258.45%1821.39%1100.84%-2,501-19.13%13,075
Tehama 5,61849.73%5,37347.56%2191.94%870.77%2452.17%11,297
Trinity 1,76251.24%1,51944.17%1043.02%541.57%2437.07%3,439
Tulare 20,58944.93%24,10352.60%6921.51%4400.96%-3,514-7.67%45,824
Tuolumne 4,16540.16%5,95257.39%1621.56%930.90%-1,787-17.23%10,372
Ventura 56,18947.20%60,12250.50%1,5541.31%1,1840.99%-3,933-3.30%119,049
Yolo 18,24954.00%14,73443.60%2300.68%5791.71%3,51510.40%33,792
Yuba 5,23751.04%4,75246.32%1731.69%980.96%4854.73%10,260
Total3,131,64850.12%2,952,95447.26%83,8691.34%75,0041.20%178,6942.86%6,248,070

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

  1. County totals do not include the write-in votes, which are only given as statewide totals in the Statement Of Vote

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote Primary Election June 4, 1974. Sacramento, California. pp. 5–8. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote General Election, November 5, 1974. Sacramento, California. p. 7. Retrieved July 21, 2024.