1974 California gubernatorial election

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1974 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California.svg
  1970 November 5, 1974 1978  
  Jerry Brown, SoS '72 (croppedcloser).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%
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 was retiring 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 election to feature a candidate who is still alive or living today as of 2024.

Contents

Election 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 a man named James Flournoy – no relation to Houston – in a very close election.

Primary results

Democratic

California Governor Democratic Primary Election, 1974 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jerry Brown 1,085,752 37.8
Democratic Joseph Alioto 544,00718.9
Democratic Bob Moretti 478,46916.6
Democratic William M. Roth 290,09310.3
Democratic Jerome R. Waldie 227,4897.9
Democratic Baxter Ward 79,7452.8
Democratic Herbert Hafif77,5052.7

Republican

California Governor Republican Primary Election, 1974 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Houston I. Flournoy 1,164,015 63.0
Republican Ed Reinecke 556,25930.1
Republican James Ware36,7842.0
Republican Glenn Mitchel31,5181.7
Republican J. F. Stay29,2971.6
Republican William Nelson22,5971.2
Republican Others8,3550.5

Peace and Freedom Party

California Governor Peace and Freedom Party Primary Election, 1974 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Keathley 2,111 28.1
Peace and Freedom Lester Higby1,85524.7
Peace and Freedom C. T. Weber1,82224.2
Peace and Freedom Trudy Saposhnek1,41718.8
Peace and Freedom Scattering3194.2

General election results

1974 gubernatorial election, California [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jerry Brown 3,131,648 50.11
Republican Houston I. Flournoy 2,952,95447.25
American Independent Edmon V. Kaiser83,8691.34
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Keathley75,0041.20
Total votes6,249,370 100.00
Turnout {{{votes}}}64.1 [5]
Democratic gain from Republican

Results by county

County Brown Votes Flournoy VotesOthersVotes
San Francisco 61.81%136,89635.56%78,7592.63%5,815
Alameda 60.15%200,16537.16%123,6562.68%8,929
Humboldt 58.66%22,80538.48%14,9582.86%1,112
Lassen 57.13%3,11139.76%2,1653.10%169
Plumas 55.77%3,03141.93%2,2792.30%125
Shasta 55.51%15,76441.25%11,7163.24%921
Solano 54.43%24,95542.58%19,5242.99%1,372
Yolo 54.00%18,24943.60%14,7342.39%809
Siskiyou 53.93%6,51543.28%5,2292.79%337
Sierra 52.99%62943.22%5133.79%45
Los Angeles 52.84%1,059,53344.82%898,8082.34%46,824
Fresno 52.41%61,59645.36%53,3082.22%2,614
Kings 52.11%7,44445.78%6,5402.11%301
Merced 51.89%12,77946.05%11,3392.06%507
Sacramento 51.62%117,71145.86%104,5952.52%5,746
Del Norte 51.60%2,14946.12%1,9212.28%95
Trinity 51.24%1,76244.17%1,5194.59%158
Madera 51.17%5,58447.08%5,1371.75%191
Yuba 51.04%5,23746.32%4,7522.64%271
Santa Clara 50.63%166,76046.69%153,7612.68%8,829
Placer 50.50%15,74446.54%14,5102.96%924
Mendocino 50.31%9,15846.00%8,3733.69%672
San Bernardino 49.85%87,13347.27%82,6112.88%5,038
Tehama 49.73%5,61847.56%5,3732.71%306
San Mateo 49.62%91,80847.69%88,2352.69%4,983
Imperial 49.04%9,03348.92%9,0112.03%374
Santa Cruz 48.67%28,60047.23%27,7504.10%2,409
Sonoma 48.48%40,75647.98%40,3393.54%2,975
Contra Costa 48.31%97,03849.52%99,4702.16%4,347
Kern 48.29%44,82849.31%45,7752.41%2,237
Stanislaus 47.97%27,93150.13%29,1861.89%1,103
Riverside 47.93%70,51549.69%73,1022.37%3,489
San Luis Obispo 47.82%19,42949.96%20,3002.22%904
Napa 47.44%15,20050.09%16,0482.47%791
Ventura 47.20%56,18950.50%60,1222.30%2,738
Amador 46.48%3,19850.63%3,4832.89%199
El Dorado 46.09%8,07650.92%8,9223.00%525
Monterey 46.09%28,83251.50%32,2182.42%1,512
Santa Barbara 45.99%42,22151.48%47,2632.53%2,324
Marin 45.84%36,38451.18%40,6192.97%2,361
Lake 45.71%4,73351.97%5,3812.32%240
San Joaquin 45.69%38,42952.01%43,7442.29%1,927
Mariposa 45.28%1,65851.69%1,8933.03%111
San Benito 45.05%2,72252.95%3,1992.00%121
Tulare 44.93%20,58952.60%24,1032.47%1,132
Alpine 44.90%18551.46%2123.64%15
Modoc 44.16%1,39553.97%1,7051.87%59
San Diego 42.82%196,93054.24%249,4442.94%13,500
Colusa 42.16%1,88456.01%2,5031.83%82
Inyo 41.54%2,41755.65%3,2382.82%164
Butte 41.47%17,00754.86%22,4993.66%1,502
Calaveras 41.25%2,70256.63%3,7092.12%139
Nevada 41.00%5,22555.72%7,1013.28%418
Glenn 40.86%2,64556.77%3,6752.38%154
Orange 40.60%212,63856.87%297,8702.54%13,288
Tuolumne 40.16%4,16557.39%5,9522.46%255
Mono 39.45%81756.06%1,1614.49%93
Sutter 39.32%5,14158.45%7,6422.23%292

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References

  1. "CA Governor - D Primary Race". Our Campaigns. June 4, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  2. "CA Governor - R Primary Race". Our Campaigns. June 4, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  3. "CA Governor - PFP Primary Race". Our Campaigns. June 4, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  4. "CA Governor Race". Our Campaigns. November 5, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  5. "California Secretary of State Statewide General Elections - Historical Voter Participation Statistics from 1910 to 2009". Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.