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 County results Brown: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Younger: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in California |
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The 1978 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 1978. The Democratic incumbent, Jerry Brown, defeated the Republican nominee Attorney General Evelle J. Younger and independent candidate Ed Clark in a landslide.
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, California Attorney General Evelle Younger (who was the only Republican elected to a statewide office in the post-Watergate Democratic onslaught in the 1974 California general election) defeated Ed Davis (State Senator and former Los Angeles Police Chief), Ken Maddy (State Senate Minority Leader from Fresno), and Pete Wilson (Mayor of San Diego). Incumbent Jerry Brown had only minor opposition in the Democratic Primary. The primary election included Proposition 13, the initiative authored by Howard Jarvis which sought to drastically reduce property taxes and change the way property taxes were calculated. Younger and most Republicans supported Proposition 13 while Brown and most Democrats opposed it. The initiative passed with 64.8% of the vote; it is still in effect, and many other states passed similar laws.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Evelle J. Younger | 1,008,087 | 40.04% | |
| Republican | Ed Davis | 738,087 | 29.34% | |
| Republican | Ken Maddy | 484,583 | 19.25% | |
| Republican | Pete Wilson | 230,146 | 9.14% | |
| Republican | John V. Briggs | 35,147 | 1.40% | |
| Republican | True R. Slocum Jr. | 11,824 | 0.47% | |
| Republican | Elmer L. Crutchley | 8,951 | 0.36% | |
| Republican | Scattering | 1 | 0.00% | |
| Total votes | 2,517,480 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Edmund G. Brown Jr. (incumbent) | 2,567,067 | 77.53% | |
| Democratic | David Rock | 132,706 | 4.01% | |
| Democratic | John Hancock Abbott | 127,506 | 3.85% | |
| Democratic | George B. Roden | 125,790 | 3.80% | |
| Democratic | Jules Kimmett | 83,339 | 2.52% | |
| Democratic | Gene Atherton | 80,224 | 2.42% | |
| Democratic | Alex D. Aloia | 67,892 | 2.05% | |
| Democratic | Raymond V. Liebenberg | 65,219 | 1.97% | |
| Democratic | Lowell Darling | 60,997 | 1.84% | |
| Democratic | Scattering | 178 | 0.01% | |
| Total votes | 3,310,918 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Independent | Theresa F. Dietrich | 12,278 | 57.40% | |
| American Independent | Laszlo Kecskemethy | 9,112 | 42.60% | |
| Total votes | 21,390 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peace and Freedom | Marilyn Sands | 6,278 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 6,278 | 100.00% | ||
The primary battle left Younger short of money, while Brown had a much larger campaign fund and won reelection in a landslide.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Edmund G. Brown Jr. (Incumbent) | 3,878,812 | 56.03% | +5.91% | |
| Republican | Evelle J. Younger | 2,526,534 | 36.50% | −10.76% | |
| Independent | Ed Clark | 377,960 | 5.46% | ||
| Peace and Freedom | Marilyn Seals | 70,864 | 1.02% | −0.18% | |
| American Independent | Theresa F. Dietrich | 67,103 | 0.97% | −0.37% | |
| Scattering | 1,105 | 0.02% | |||
| Majority | 1,352,278 | 19.53% | |||
| Total votes | 6,922,378 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic hold | Swing | +16.67% | |||
Jerry Brown's landslide victory ended three of the remaining four very long streaks of Republican dominance in California counties. Brown was the first Democrat to ever carry Alpine County in a gubernatorial election since its establishment in 1864. The same was true for Orange County; it had always backed the Republican candidate since its establishment in 1889. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara County backed a Democratic candidate for the first time since 1882. After this election, the lone county with a long history of backing Republicans was Mono County, which had never backed a Democratic candidate since its founding in 1861 [lower-alpha 1] and would not vote Democratic until 1998.
Conversely, Jerry Brown remains the most recent Democrat to carry any of the following counties: Butte County, Calaveras County, El Dorado County, Fresno County, Kern County, Lassen County, Madera County, Mariposa County, Placer County, Plumas County, Shasta County, Sierra County, Siskiyou County, Tehama County, Tuolumne County, and Yuba County.
| County | Edmund G. Brown Jr. Democratic | Evelle J. Younger Republican | Ed Clark Independent | Marilyn Seals Peace & Freedom | Theresa F. Dietrich American Independent | Margin | Total votes cast [lower-alpha 2] [2] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 217,746 | 63.81% | 88,619 | 25.97% | 24,336 | 7.13% | 7,375 | 2.16% | 3,141 | 0.92% | 129,127 | 37.84% | 341,217 |
| Alpine | 202 | 52.74% | 151 | 39.43% | 18 | 4.70% | 5 | 1.31% | 7 | 1.83% | 51 | 13.32% | 383 |
| Amador | 4,144 | 49.65% | 3,534 | 42.34% | 477 | 5.71% | 56 | 0.67% | 136 | 1.63% | 610 | 7.31% | 8,347 |
| Butte | 26,051 | 49.65% | 22,142 | 42.20% | 3,038 | 5.79% | 609 | 1.16% | 634 | 1.21% | 3,909 | 7.45% | 52,474 |
| Calaveras | 4,019 | 48.74% | 3,691 | 44.76% | 377 | 4.57% | 73 | 0.89% | 86 | 1.04% | 328 | 3.98% | 8,246 |
| Colusa | 1,958 | 45.01% | 2,005 | 46.09% | 314 | 7.22% | 37 | 0.85% | 36 | 0.83% | -47 | -1.08% | 4,350 |
| Contra Costa | 122,565 | 54.27% | 80,821 | 35.79% | 17,989 | 7.97% | 2,208 | 0.98% | 2,250 | 1.00% | 41,744 | 18.48% | 225,833 |
| Del Norte | 2,451 | 41.73% | 2,933 | 49.93% | 188 | 3.20% | 77 | 1.31% | 225 | 3.83% | -482 | -8.21% | 5,874 |
| El Dorado | 13,832 | 48.35% | 12,187 | 42.60% | 1,819 | 6.36% | 305 | 1.07% | 466 | 1.63% | 1,645 | 5.75% | 28,609 |
| Fresno | 71,657 | 55.67% | 50,950 | 39.58% | 3,653 | 2.84% | 1,135 | 0.88% | 1,324 | 1.03% | 20,707 | 16.09% | 128,719 |
| Glenn | 3,120 | 42.98% | 3,521 | 48.51% | 444 | 6.12% | 57 | 0.79% | 117 | 1.61% | -401 | -5.52% | 7,259 |
| Humboldt | 21,243 | 50.37% | 16,658 | 39.49% | 2,783 | 6.60% | 713 | 1.69% | 781 | 1.85% | 4,585 | 10.87% | 42,178 |
| Imperial | 8,385 | 46.05% | 8,629 | 47.39% | 870 | 4.78% | 157 | 0.86% | 167 | 0.92% | -244 | -1.34% | 18,208 |
| Inyo | 2,540 | 39.53% | 3,561 | 55.42% | 218 | 3.39% | 47 | 0.73% | 59 | 0.92% | -1,021 | -15.89% | 6,425 |
| Kern | 49,144 | 47.71% | 41,531 | 40.32% | 10,560 | 10.25% | 682 | 0.66% | 1,078 | 1.05% | 7,613 | 7.39% | 102,995 |
| Kings | 8,794 | 53.84% | 6,940 | 42.49% | 281 | 1.72% | 105 | 0.64% | 215 | 1.32% | 1,854 | 11.35% | 16,335 |
| Lake | 6,670 | 52.87% | 5,012 | 39.72% | 651 | 5.16% | 132 | 1.05% | 152 | 1.20% | 1,658 | 13.14% | 12,617 |
| Lassen | 3,377 | 50.34% | 2,849 | 42.47% | 324 | 4.83% | 57 | 0.85% | 102 | 1.52% | 528 | 7.87% | 6,709 |
| Los Angeles | 1,178,368 | 57.34% | 744,491 | 36.23% | 93,692 | 4.56% | 20,205 | 0.98% | 18,256 | 0.89% | 433,877 | 21.11% | 2,055,012 |
| Madera | 7,529 | 52.17% | 6,230 | 43.16% | 414 | 2.87% | 110 | 0.76% | 150 | 1.04% | 1,299 | 9.00% | 14,433 |
| Marin | 49,759 | 55.75% | 29,888 | 33.49% | 7,683 | 8.61% | 1,227 | 1.37% | 698 | 0.78% | 19,871 | 22.26% | 89,255 |
| Mariposa | 2,361 | 53.02% | 1,774 | 39.84% | 212 | 4.76% | 31 | 0.70% | 75 | 1.68% | 587 | 13.18% | 4,453 |
| Mendocino | 11,877 | 54.14% | 7,916 | 36.09% | 1,442 | 6.57% | 377 | 1.72% | 325 | 1.48% | 3,961 | 18.06% | 21,937 |
| Merced | 16,825 | 55.62% | 12,165 | 40.21% | 756 | 2.50% | 202 | 0.67% | 303 | 1.00% | 4,660 | 15.40% | 30,251 |
| Modoc | 1,235 | 40.28% | 1,616 | 52.71% | 137 | 4.47% | 27 | 0.88% | 51 | 1.66% | -381 | -12.43% | 3,066 |
| Mono | 1,042 | 44.82% | 1,164 | 50.06% | 76 | 3.27% | 18 | 0.77% | 25 | 1.08% | -122 | -5.25% | 2,325 |
| Monterey | 34,649 | 52.35% | 27,180 | 41.07% | 3,278 | 4.95% | 550 | 0.83% | 530 | 0.80% | 7,469 | 11.28% | 66,187 |
| Napa | 19,202 | 50.53% | 15,621 | 41.11% | 2,461 | 6.48% | 373 | 0.98% | 344 | 0.91% | 3,581 | 9.42% | 38,001 |
| Nevada | 9,016 | 45.36% | 8,365 | 42.09% | 2,236 | 11.25% | 123 | 0.62% | 136 | 0.68% | 651 | 3.28% | 19,876 |
| Orange | 299,577 | 48.68% | 272,076 | 44.21% | 34,903 | 5.67% | 3,845 | 0.62% | 4,976 | 0.81% | 27,501 | 4.47% | 615,377 |
| Placer | 20,384 | 51.12% | 15,563 | 39.03% | 3,342 | 8.38% | 268 | 0.67% | 321 | 0.80% | 4,821 | 12.09% | 39,878 |
| Plumas | 3,599 | 55.48% | 2,541 | 39.17% | 208 | 3.21% | 37 | 0.57% | 102 | 1.57% | 1,058 | 16.31% | 6,487 |
| Riverside | 101,377 | 54.23% | 75,564 | 40.42% | 6,982 | 3.74% | 1,235 | 0.66% | 1,772 | 0.95% | 25,813 | 13.81% | 186.930 |
| Sacramento | 139,821 | 54.91% | 88,445 | 34.74% | 21,137 | 8.30% | 2,862 | 1.12% | 2,349 | 0.92% | 51,376 | 20.18% | 254,614 |
| San Benito | 2,805 | 49.23% | 2,411 | 42.31% | 349 | 6.12% | 71 | 1.25% | 62 | 1.09% | 394 | 6.91% | 5,698 |
| San Bernardino | 115,082 | 54.01% | 86,638 | 40.66% | 7,151 | 3.36% | 1,402 | 0.66% | 2,822 | 1.32% | 28,444 | 13.35% | 213,095 |
| San Diego | 316,223 | 57.49% | 197,167 | 35.85% | 25,964 | 4.72% | 3,708 | 0.67% | 6,945 | 1.26% | 119,056 | 21.65% | 550,007 |
| San Francisco | 156,601 | 69.46% | 51,429 | 22.81% | 11,577 | 5.13% | 4,400 | 1.95% | 1,458 | 0.65% | 105,172 | 46.65% | 225,465 |
| San Joaquin | 49,169 | 52.17% | 39,425 | 41.84% | 4,063 | 4.31% | 536 | 0.57% | 1,046 | 1.11% | 9,744 | 10.34% | 94,239 |
| San Luis Obispo | 25,695 | 51.20% | 21,689 | 43.22% | 1,772 | 3.53% | 552 | 1.10% | 478 | 0.95% | 4,006 | 7.98% | 50,186 |
| San Mateo | 113,402 | 56.18% | 69,131 | 34.25% | 15,072 | 7.47% | 2,565 | 1.27% | 1,678 | 0.83% | 44,271 | 21.93% | 201,848 |
| Santa Barbara | 59,933 | 56.68% | 38,656 | 36.56% | 4,763 | 4.50% | 1,521 | 1.44% | 858 | 0.81% | 21,277 | 20.12% | 105,731 |
| Santa Clara | 227,493 | 61.35% | 110,444 | 29.79% | 25,550 | 6.89% | 3,784 | 1.02% | 3,512 | 0.95% | 117,049 | 31.57% | 370,783 |
| Santa Cruz | 40,490 | 60.85% | 20,698 | 31.11% | 3,470 | 5.21% | 1,376 | 2.07% | 506 | 0.76% | 19,792 | 29.74% | 66,540 |
| Shasta | 19,432 | 55.26% | 12,698 | 36.11% | 2,256 | 6.42% | 276 | 0.78% | 501 | 1.42% | 6,734 | 19.15% | 35,163 |
| Sierra | 725 | 49.45% | 644 | 43.93% | 71 | 4.84% | 11 | 0.75% | 15 | 1.02% | 81 | 5.53% | 1,466 |
| Siskiyou | 6,851 | 51.11% | 5,747 | 42.88% | 497 | 3.71% | 113 | 0.84% | 196 | 1.46% | 1,104 | 8.24% | 13,404 |
| Solano | 34,513 | 58.05% | 20,176 | 33.94% | 3,670 | 6.17% | 535 | 0.90% | 558 | 0.94% | 14,337 | 24.12% | 59,452 |
| Sonoma | 56,920 | 54.29% | 37,584 | 35.85% | 7,506 | 7.16% | 1,855 | 1.77% | 981 | 0.94% | 19,336 | 18.44% | 104,846 |
| Stanislaus | 36,676 | 55.62% | 25,247 | 38.29% | 2,539 | 3.85% | 678 | 1.03% | 803 | 1.22% | 11,429 | 17.33% | 65,943 |
| Sutter | 6,357 | 44.09% | 6,871 | 47.65% | 1,003 | 6.96% | 77 | 0.53% | 111 | 0.77% | -514 | -3.56% | 14,419 |
| Tehama | 5,986 | 50.25% | 5,002 | 41.99% | 635 | 5.33% | 81 | 0.68% | 208 | 1.75% | 984 | 8.26% | 11,912 |
| Trinity | 2,215 | 50.39% | 1,769 | 40.24% | 298 | 6.78% | 44 | 1.00% | 70 | 1.59% | 446 | 10.15% | 4,396 |
| Tulare | 24,989 | 46.80% | 26,136 | 48.95% | 1,322 | 2.48% | 315 | 0.59% | 634 | 1.19% | -1,147 | -2.15% | 53,396 |
| Tuolumne | 6,772 | 51.09% | 5,757 | 43.44% | 478 | 3.61% | 103 | 0.78% | 144 | 1.09% | 1,015 | 7.66% | 13,254 |
| Ventura | 75,173 | 52.78% | 57,777 | 40.57% | 6,916 | 4.86% | 854 | 0.60% | 1,703 | 1.20% | 17,396 | 12.21% | 142,423 |
| Yolo | 24,357 | 59.39% | 12,703 | 30.97% | 3,064 | 7.47% | 593 | 1.45% | 298 | 0.73% | 11,654 | 28.41% | 41,015 |
| Yuba | 6,434 | 54.84% | 4,402 | 37.52% | 675 | 5.75% | 94 | 0.80% | 127 | 1.08% | 2,032 | 17.32% | 11,732 |
| Total | 3,878,812 | 56.03% | 2,526,534 | 36.50% | 377,960 | 5.46% | 70,864 | 1.02% | 67,103 | 0.97% | 1,352,278 | 19.53% | 6,922,378 |
The 1982 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 2, 1982. The Republican nominee, Attorney General George Deukmejian, narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Incumbent Governor Jerry Brown did not seek reelection to a third term; he later successfully ran again in 2010 and 2014.
The 1861 California gubernatorial election took place on September 4, 1861. Incumbent Governor John G. Downey was not a candidate for renomination, as his Democratic Party had violently ruptured over the issue of slavery and secession. Downey was a Lecompton Democrat, those who favored slavery in the Kansas Territory and who were running as now as the Breckenridge or "Chivalry" Democrats. These Chivalry Democrats supported Attorney General John McConnell. Anti-slavery or anti-secession Democrats were the "Unionist" Democrats who favored John Conness.
Districts in California geographically divide the U.S. state into overlapping regions for political and administrative purposes.
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." 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.
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.
The 1942 California gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942. The election pitted incumbent Democratic Governor Culbert Olson against state Attorney General Earl Warren. Warren won in a landslide to become the 30th governor of California, receiving 57% of the vote to Olson's 42%.
The 1938 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938. Culbert L. Olson defeated incumbent governor Frank F. Merriam to become the first Democrat elected Governor of California since James Budd in 1894. Merriam had angered the left and the right throughout his tenure as governor, leading a significant swing in favor of the Democratic party.
The 1914 California gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1914. Hiram Johnson was elected in 1910 as a member of the Republican Party. Dissatisfaction with the conservatism of the William Howard Taft administration led many Republicans to join former President Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party, with Johnson running as the vice-presidential nominee in the 1912 presidential election. Despite losing the election, and winning California by fewer than 200 votes, Johnson was supremely popular in California. He was re-elected in 1914 as governor on the Progressive Party ticket, nearly tripling his vote from 1910 as a Republican, and was elected and reelected as U.S. senator many times until his death in 1945.
The 1996 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1996, as part of the 1996 United States presidential election. Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. California, was won by Incumbent President Bill Clinton (D) over Senator Bob Dole (R), with Clinton winning 51.1% to 38.21% by a margin of 12.89%. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot finished in third, with 6.96% of the popular vote.
The 1992 United States presidential election in California took place on November 3, 1992, and was part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 54 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1980 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 1980 as part of the 1980 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1976 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1976, as part of the 1976 United States presidential election. State voters chose 45 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose 40 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1964 United States presidential election in California took place on November 3, 1964, as part of the 1964 United States presidential election. State voters chose 40 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1932 United States presidential election in California took place on November 8, 1932 as part of the 1932 United States presidential election. State voters chose 22 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1928 United States presidential election in California took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1920 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 1920, as part of the 1920 United States presidential election in which all 48 states participated. California voters chose 13 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting Democratic nominee, Governor James M. Cox of Ohio and his running mate, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, against Republican challenger U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and his running mate, Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts.
The 1912 United States presidential election in California took place on November 5, 1912, as part of the 1912 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1876 United States presidential election in California was held on November 7, 1876, as part of the 1876 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
