1982 California gubernatorial election

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1982 California gubernatorial election
Flag of California.svg
  1978 November 2, 1982 1986  
  George Deukmejian, 1982.jpg Tom Bradley, 1980.jpg
Nominee George Deukmejian Tom Bradley
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote3,881,0143,787,669
Percentage49.28%48.09%

1982 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results

Deukmejian:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%

Bradley:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Governor before election

Jerry Brown
Democratic

Elected Governor

George Deukmejian
Republican

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.

Contents

Primary election

In the Democratic primary, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley easily defeated State Senator John Garamendi and Mario G. Obledo. On the Republican side, it was a two-man race between Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb and Attorney General George Deukmejian. Deukmejian won the primary with nearly 55% of the vote.

Republican Party

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican George Deukmejian 1,165,266 51.08%
Republican Mike Curb 1,020,93544.76%
Republican William H. R. Clark44,9981.97%
Republican Michael Arthur Hirt25,6131.12%
Republican James C. Mansfield24,3031.07%
Total votes2,281,115 100.00%

Democratic Party

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Tom Bradley 1,726,985 61.08%
Democratic John Garamendi 712,16125.19%
Democratic Mario G. Obledo 132,4024.68%
Democratic Frank L. Thomas51,1581.81%
Democratic Linda Irene Parnell45,6071.61%
Democratic Hugh G. Bagley40,3351.43%
Democratic John Hancock Abbott26,9890.95%
Democratic Ben Trevino19,2200.68%
Democratic Genevieve Grafe Marcus16,1240.57%
Democratic Raymond V. Liebenberg15,2670.54%
Democratic Jules Kimmett15,1820.54%
Democratic Josephum S. Ramos12,9480.46%
Democratic Allen Lee Seaman12,9420.46%
Democratic William A. Brown (write-in)280.00%
Total votes2,827,348 100.00%

American Independent Party

American Independent primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
American Independent James C. Griffin 16,818 100.00%
Total votes16,818 100.00%

Libertarian Party

American Independent primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Libertarian Dan P. Dougherty 13,565 100.00%
Total votes13,565 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

Peace and Freedom primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Martinez 4,353 55.07%
Peace and Freedom Jan B. Tucker3,55244.93%
Total votes7,905 100.00%

General election

Early indications were that it would be a close race but as the campaign went on, Bradley slowly increased his lead in the polls. Despite this, the outcome was still in doubt as election night wore on. A large late surge of absentee ballots (many from conservative Orange County and Deukmejian's home area of Long Beach) helped tip the balance in his favor. The incorrect polling numbers led to the theory later dubbed "the Bradley effect" that a statistically significant number of voters had given inaccurate responses when questioned by pollsters.

1982 California gubernatorial election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican George Deukmejian 3,881,014 49.27% +12.77%
Democratic Tom Bradley 3,787,66948.09%−7.95%
Libertarian Dan P. Dougherty81,0761.03%−4.43%
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Martinez 70,3270.89%−0.13%
American Independent Jim Griffin56,2490.71%−0.26%
Scattering3630.00%
Majority93,3451.19%
Total votes7,876,698 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing +20.72%

Results by county

CountyGeorge Deukmejian
Republican
Tom Bradley
Democratic
Dan P. Dougherty
Libertarian
Elizabeth Martinez
Peace & Freedom
Jim Griffin
American Independent
MarginTotal votes cast [lower-alpha 1] [2]
# %# %# %# %# %# %
Alameda 145,96437.62%225,57858.91%4,4771.15%5,8451.51%3,1580.81%-82,614-21.29%388,022
Alpine 21852.66%18544.69%10.24%30.72%71.69%337.97%414
Amador 6,25161.19%3,64335.66%880.86%870.85%1461.43%2,60825.53%10,215
Butte 36,07458.13%23,73438.25%7931.28%8131.31%6391.03%12,34019.89%62,053
Calaveras 6,27761.63%3,50134.37%1571.54%1261.24%1241.22%2,77627.26%10,185
Colusa 3,03662.95%1,62133.61%531.10%681.41%450.93%1,41529.34%4,823
Contra Costa 126,46049.83%119,71247.17%3,1671.25%2,2490.89%2,2000.87%6,7482.66%253,788
Del Norte 3,35551.32%2,93444.88%721.10%1071.64%701.07%4216.44%6,538
El Dorado 20,59159.37%12,99937.48%4231.22%2840.82%3831.10%7,59221.89%34,680
Fresno 80,17152.59%68,62345.01%1,4680.96%1,2130.80%9780.64%11,5487.57%152,453
Glenn 5,49267.49%2,39829.47%790.97%430.53%1261.55%3,09438.02%8,138
Humboldt 21,60945.38%23,99150.38%6221.31%7481.57%6531.37%-2,382-5.00%47,623
Imperial 10,27251.40%9,13345.70%1400.70%2041.02%2371.19%1,1395.70%19,986
Inyo 5,00863.87%2.59933.15%881.12%650.83%811.03%2,40930.72%7,841
Kern 70,09555.30%53,79942.44%9350.74%8590.68%1,0650.84%16,29612.86%126,753
Kings 9,93854.64%7,71842.43%1400.77%1760.97%2171.19%2,22012.21%18,189
Lake 8,86753.24%7,14342.89%2331.40%1841.10%2271.36%1,72410.35%16,654
Lassen 4,47256.64%3,00338.03%1331.68%720.91%2162.74%1,46918.60%7,896
Los Angeles 1,024,94645.67%1,173,14952.27%16,7940.75%18,1630.81%11,1840.50%-148,203-6.60%2,244,236
Madera 10,33454.57%7,88941.66%3121.65%1520.80%2501.32%2,44512.91%18,937
Marin 42,26042.83%52,53453.24%2,3712.40%1,0661.08%4370.44%-10,274-10.41%98,668
Mariposa 3,25556.39%2,32440.26%641.11%601.04%691.20%93116.13%5,772
Mendocino 12.39846.82%12,78648.29%4221.59%5191.96%3531.33%-388-1.47%26,478
Merced 17,47752.62%14,64944.10%4671.41%2610.79%3621.09%2,8288.51%33,216
Modoc 2,59968.83%99526.35%641.69%340.90%842.22%1,60442.48%3,776
Mono 1,97759.58%1,24937.64%260.78%341.02%320.96%72821.94%3,318
Monterey 37,49347.78%38,30148.81%9581.22%1,0671.36%6560.84%-808-1.03%78,475
Napa 21,81254.20%17,04242.34%4941.23%4541.13%4451.11%4,77011.85%40,247
Nevada 14,75356.80%10,26239.51%4991.92%2340.90%2260.87%4,49117.29%25,974
Orange 422,87861.44%252,57236.70%5,9650.87%3,3460.49%3,5370.51%170,30624.74%688,298
Placer 28,08255.47%20,83241.15%7371.46%4250.84%5481.08%7,25014.32%50,624
Plumas 4,23753.53%3,35542.39%1612.03%610.77%1011.28%88211.14%7,915
Riverside 119,68053.27%100,37044.68%1,5240.68%1,5380.68%1,5350.68%19,3108.60%224,647
Sacramento 171,17652.35%146,16744.70%4,1141.26%2,8200.86%2,7050.83%25,0097.65%326,982
San Benito 3,60846.67%3,78248.92%1672.16%750.97%991.28%-174-2.25%7,731
San Bernardino 144,09653.29%119,18544.08%2,3930.88%1,9970.74%2,7271.01%24,9119.21%270,398
San Diego 330,03752.76%279,11344.62%6,6421.06%5,0430.81%4,6810.75%50,9248.14%625,516
San Francisco 69,47830.43%151,76966.47%2,8291.24%3,2181.41%1,0400.46%-82,291-36.04%228,334
San Joaquin 65,58360.06%40,00236.63%1,3481.23%9940.91%1.2651.16%25,58123.43%109,192
San Luis Obispo 33,45752.94%28,41744.96%5560.88%3830.61%3880.61%5,0407.97%63,201
San Mateo 99,52746.36%108,37450.48%2,9771.39%1,9480.91%1,8430.86%-8,847-4.12%214,669
Santa Barbara 55,68248.33%57,16449.62%9880.86%8010.70%5680.49%-1,482-1.29%115,203
Santa Clara 180,23243.96%216,78152.87%5,9831.46%3,8580.94%3,1630.77%-36,549-8.91%410,017
Santa Cruz 29,54538.09%44,28257.09%1,2211.57%1,9402.50%5770.74%-14,737-19.00%77,565
Shasta 26,90257.61%18,05338.66%7071.51%3940.84%6421.37%8,84918.95%46,698
Sierra 91448.33%90747.96%241.27%201.06%261.37%70.37%1,891
Siskiyou 9,45758.40%6,00937.11%2591.60%1881.16%2811.74%3,44821.29%16,194
Solano 36,96850.31%33,99746.26%9791.33%7060.96%8371.14%2,9714.04%73,487
Sonoma 55,96845.10%63,54251.20%1,7351.40%1,7471.41%1,1150.90%-7,574-6.10%124,107
Stanislaus 43,63955.94%32,27641.38%6870.88%6480.83%7580.97%11,36314.57%78,008
Sutter 10,75363.33%5,66033.33%1841.08%2351.38%1480.87%5,09329.99%16,980
Tehama 9,62858.55%6,13437.30%2501.52%1450.88%2881.75%3,49421.25%16,445
Trinity 3,10053.95%2,35140.92%1121.95%661.15%1172.04%74913.04%5,746
Tulare 38,90156.69%28,33041.29%4150.60%5010.73%4700.68%10,57115.41%68,617
Tuolumne 8,71656.84%6,10739.82%1601.04%1480.97%2041.33%2,60917.01%15,335
Ventura 99,13055.22%76,09442.39%1,7820.99%1,2900.72%1,2280.68%23,03612.83%179,524
Yolo 19,22742.99%24,15054.00%4851.08%4451.00%4150.93%-4,923-11.01%44,722
Yuba 6,95953.77%5,40041.73%1521.17%1571.21%2732.11%1,55912.05%12,941
Total3,881,01449.27%3,787,66948.09%81,0761.03%70,3270.89%56,2490.71%93,3451.19%7,876,698

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 5 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote Primary Election June 8, 1982. Sacramento, California. pp. 8–9. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote General Election, November 2, 1982. Sacramento, California. p. 1. Retrieved July 21, 2024.