1978 California gubernatorial election

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1978 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California.svg
  1974 November 7, 1978 1982  
  Jerry Brown 1975.jpg Evelle J. Younger, 1971.jpg Ed Clark (cropped, 3x4).jpg
Nominee Jerry Brown Evelle Younger Ed Clark
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote3,878,8122,526,534377,960
Percentage56.05%36.50%5.46%

1978 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
1978 California gubernatorial election by Congressional District.svg
Brown:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Younger:      40–50%     50–60%

Governor before election

Jerry Brown
Democratic

Elected Governor

Jerry Brown
Democratic

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.

Contents

Primary election results

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.

Republican Party

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Evelle J. Younger 1,008,087 40.04%
Republican Ed Davis 738,08729.34%
Republican Ken Maddy 484,58319.25%
Republican Pete Wilson 230,1469.14%
Republican John V. Briggs 35,1471.40%
Republican True R. Slocum Jr.11,8240.47%
Republican Elmer L. Crutchley8,9510.36%
Republican Scattering10.00%
Total votes2,517,480 100.00%

Democratic Party

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Edmund G. Brown Jr. (incumbent) 2,567,067 77.53%
Democratic David Rock132,7064.01%
Democratic John Hancock Abbott127,5063.85%
Democratic George B. Roden125,7903.80%
Democratic Jules Kimmett83,3392.52%
Democratic Gene Atherton80,2242.42%
Democratic Alex D. Aloia67,8922.05%
Democratic Raymond V. Liebenberg65,2191.97%
Democratic Lowell Darling60,9971.84%
Democratic Scattering1780.01%
Total votes3,310,918 100.00%

American Independent Party

American Independent primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
American Independent Theresa F. Dietrich 12,278 57.40%
American Independent Laszlo Kecskemethy9,11242.60%
Total votes21,390 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

Peace and Freedom primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Peace and Freedom Marilyn Sands 6,278 100.00%
Total votes6,278 100.00%

General election

The primary battle left Younger short of money, while Brown had a much larger campaign fund and won reelection in a landslide.

1978 California gubernatorial election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Edmund G. Brown Jr. (Incumbent) 3,878,812 56.03% +5.91%
Republican Evelle J. Younger 2,526,53436.50%−10.76%
Independent Ed Clark 377,9605.46%
Peace and Freedom Marilyn Seals70,8641.02%−0.18%
American Independent Theresa F. Dietrich67,1030.97%−0.37%
Scattering1,1050.02%
Majority1,352,27819.53%
Total votes6,922,378 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing +16.67%

Results by county

CountyEdmund G. Brown Jr.
Democratic
Evelle J. Younger
Republican
Ed Clark
Independent
Marilyn Seals
Peace & Freedom
Theresa F. Dietrich
American Independent
MarginTotal votes cast [a] [2]
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Alameda 217,74663.81%88,61925.97%24,3367.13%7,3752.16%3,1410.92%129,12737.84%341,217
Alpine 20252.74%15139.43%184.70%51.31%71.83%5113.32%383
Amador 4,14449.65%3,53442.34%4775.71%560.67%1361.63%6107.31%8,347
Butte 26,05149.65%22,14242.20%3,0385.79%6091.16%6341.21%3,9097.45%52,474
Calaveras 4,01948.74%3,69144.76%3774.57%730.89%861.04%3283.98%8,246
Colusa 1,95845.01%2,00546.09%3147.22%370.85%360.83%-47-1.08%4,350
Contra Costa 122,56554.27%80,82135.79%17,9897.97%2,2080.98%2,2501.00%41,74418.48%225,833
Del Norte 2,45141.73%2,93349.93%1883.20%771.31%2253.83%-482-8.21%5,874
El Dorado 13,83248.35%12,18742.60%1,8196.36%3051.07%4661.63%1,6455.75%28,609
Fresno 71,65755.67%50,95039.58%3,6532.84%1,1350.88%1,3241.03%20,70716.09%128,719
Glenn 3,12042.98%3,52148.51%4446.12%570.79%1171.61%-401-5.52%7,259
Humboldt 21,24350.37%16,65839.49%2,7836.60%7131.69%7811.85%4,58510.87%42,178
Imperial 8,38546.05%8,62947.39%8704.78%1570.86%1670.92%-244-1.34%18,208
Inyo 2,54039.53%3,56155.42%2183.39%470.73%590.92%-1,021-15.89%6,425
Kern 49,14447.71%41,53140.32%10,56010.25%6820.66%1,0781.05%7,6137.39%102,995
Kings 8,79453.84%6,94042.49%2811.72%1050.64%2151.32%1,85411.35%16,335
Lake 6,67052.87%5,01239.72%6515.16%1321.05%1521.20%1,65813.14%12,617
Lassen 3,37750.34%2,84942.47%3244.83%570.85%1021.52%5287.87%6,709
Los Angeles 1,178,36857.34%744,49136.23%93,6924.56%20,2050.98%18,2560.89%433,87721.11%2,055,012
Madera 7,52952.17%6,23043.16%4142.87%1100.76%1501.04%1,2999.00%14,433
Marin 49,75955.75%29,88833.49%7,6838.61%1,2271.37%6980.78%19,87122.26%89,255
Mariposa 2,36153.02%1,77439.84%2124.76%310.70%751.68%58713.18%4,453
Mendocino 11,87754.14%7,91636.09%1,4426.57%3771.72%3251.48%3,96118.06%21,937
Merced 16,82555.62%12,16540.21%7562.50%2020.67%3031.00%4,66015.40%30,251
Modoc 1,23540.28%1,61652.71%1374.47%270.88%511.66%-381-12.43%3,066
Mono 1,04244.82%1,16450.06%763.27%180.77%251.08%-122-5.25%2,325
Monterey 34,64952.35%27,18041.07%3,2784.95%5500.83%5300.80%7,46911.28%66,187
Napa 19,20250.53%15,62141.11%2,4616.48%3730.98%3440.91%3,5819.42%38,001
Nevada 9,01645.36%8,36542.09%2,23611.25%1230.62%1360.68%6513.28%19,876
Orange 299,57748.68%272,07644.21%34,9035.67%3,8450.62%4,9760.81%27,5014.47%615,377
Placer 20,38451.12%15,56339.03%3,3428.38%2680.67%3210.80%4,82112.09%39,878
Plumas 3,59955.48%2,54139.17%2083.21%370.57%1021.57%1,05816.31%6,487
Riverside 101,37754.23%75,56440.42%6,9823.74%1,2350.66%1,7720.95%25,81313.81%186.930
Sacramento 139,82154.91%88,44534.74%21,1378.30%2,8621.12%2,3490.92%51,37620.18%254,614
San Benito 2,80549.23%2,41142.31%3496.12%711.25%621.09%3946.91%5,698
San Bernardino 115,08254.01%86,63840.66%7,1513.36%1,4020.66%2,8221.32%28,44413.35%213,095
San Diego 316,22357.49%197,16735.85%25,9644.72%3,7080.67%6,9451.26%119,05621.65%550,007
San Francisco 156,60169.46%51,42922.81%11,5775.13%4,4001.95%1,4580.65%105,17246.65%225,465
San Joaquin 49,16952.17%39,42541.84%4,0634.31%5360.57%1,0461.11%9,74410.34%94,239
San Luis Obispo 25,69551.20%21,68943.22%1,7723.53%5521.10%4780.95%4,0067.98%50,186
San Mateo 113,40256.18%69,13134.25%15,0727.47%2,5651.27%1,6780.83%44,27121.93%201,848
Santa Barbara 59,93356.68%38,65636.56%4,7634.50%1,5211.44%8580.81%21,27720.12%105,731
Santa Clara 227,49361.35%110,44429.79%25,5506.89%3,7841.02%3,5120.95%117,04931.57%370,783
Santa Cruz 40,49060.85%20,69831.11%3,4705.21%1,3762.07%5060.76%19,79229.74%66,540
Shasta 19,43255.26%12,69836.11%2,2566.42%2760.78%5011.42%6,73419.15%35,163
Sierra 72549.45%64443.93%714.84%110.75%151.02%815.53%1,466
Siskiyou 6,85151.11%5,74742.88%4973.71%1130.84%1961.46%1,1048.24%13,404
Solano 34,51358.05%20,17633.94%3,6706.17%5350.90%5580.94%14,33724.12%59,452
Sonoma 56,92054.29%37,58435.85%7,5067.16%1,8551.77%9810.94%19,33618.44%104,846
Stanislaus 36,67655.62%25,24738.29%2,5393.85%6781.03%8031.22%11,42917.33%65,943
Sutter 6,35744.09%6,87147.65%1,0036.96%770.53%1110.77%-514-3.56%14,419
Tehama 5,98650.25%5,00241.99%6355.33%810.68%2081.75%9848.26%11,912
Trinity 2,21550.39%1,76940.24%2986.78%441.00%701.59%44610.15%4,396
Tulare 24,98946.80%26,13648.95%1,3222.48%3150.59%6341.19%-1,147-2.15%53,396
Tuolumne 6,77251.09%5,75743.44%4783.61%1030.78%1441.09%1,0157.66%13,254
Ventura 75,17352.78%57,77740.57%6,9164.86%8540.60%1,7031.20%17,39612.21%142,423
Yolo 24,35759.39%12,70330.97%3,0647.47%5931.45%2980.73%11,65428.41%41,015
Yuba 6,43454.84%4,40237.52%6755.75%940.80%1271.08%2,03217.32%11,732
Total3,878,81256.03%2,526,53436.50%377,9605.46%70,8641.02%67,1030.97%1,352,27819.53%6,922,378

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Analysis

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 [b] 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.

Notes

  1. County totals do not include the write-in votes, which are only given as statewide totals in the Statement Of Vote
  2. Mono County was carried by the Southern Democratic candidate in 1861 and an Independent candidate in 1875

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote and Supplement Primary Election June 6, 1978. Sacramento, California. pp. 1–2. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote and Supplement General Election, November 7, 1978. Sacramento, California. p. 1. Retrieved July 21, 2024.