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 County results Deukmejian: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% Bradley: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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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.
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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George Deukmejian | 1,165,266 | 51.08% | |
| Republican | Mike Curb | 1,020,935 | 44.76% | |
| Republican | William H. R. Clark | 44,998 | 1.97% | |
| Republican | Michael Arthur Hirt | 25,613 | 1.12% | |
| Republican | James C. Mansfield | 24,303 | 1.07% | |
| Total votes | 2,281,115 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Bradley | 1,726,985 | 61.08% | |
| Democratic | John Garamendi | 712,161 | 25.19% | |
| Democratic | Mario G. Obledo | 132,402 | 4.68% | |
| Democratic | Frank L. Thomas | 51,158 | 1.81% | |
| Democratic | Linda Irene Parnell | 45,607 | 1.61% | |
| Democratic | Hugh G. Bagley | 40,335 | 1.43% | |
| Democratic | John Hancock Abbott | 26,989 | 0.95% | |
| Democratic | Ben Trevino | 19,220 | 0.68% | |
| Democratic | Genevieve Grafe Marcus | 16,124 | 0.57% | |
| Democratic | Raymond V. Liebenberg | 15,267 | 0.54% | |
| Democratic | Jules Kimmett | 15,182 | 0.54% | |
| Democratic | Josephum S. Ramos | 12,948 | 0.46% | |
| Democratic | Allen Lee Seaman | 12,942 | 0.46% | |
| Democratic | William A. Brown (write-in) | 28 | 0.00% | |
| Total votes | 2,827,348 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Independent | James C. Griffin | 16,818 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 16,818 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | Dan P. Dougherty | 13,565 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 13,565 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peace and Freedom | Elizabeth Martinez | 4,353 | 55.07% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Jan B. Tucker | 3,552 | 44.93% | |
| Total votes | 7,905 | 100.00% | ||
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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George Deukmejian | 3,881,014 | 49.27% | +12.77% | |
| Democratic | Tom Bradley | 3,787,669 | 48.09% | −7.95% | |
| Libertarian | Dan P. Dougherty | 81,076 | 1.03% | −4.43% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Elizabeth Martinez | 70,327 | 0.89% | −0.13% | |
| American Independent | Jim Griffin | 56,249 | 0.71% | −0.26% | |
| Scattering | 363 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 93,345 | 1.19% | |||
| Total votes | 7,876,698 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | +20.72% | |||
| County | George Deukmejian Republican | Tom Bradley Democratic | Dan P. Dougherty Libertarian | Elizabeth Martinez Peace & Freedom | Jim Griffin American Independent | Margin | Total votes cast [lower-alpha 1] [2] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 145,964 | 37.62% | 225,578 | 58.91% | 4,477 | 1.15% | 5,845 | 1.51% | 3,158 | 0.81% | -82,614 | -21.29% | 388,022 |
| Alpine | 218 | 52.66% | 185 | 44.69% | 1 | 0.24% | 3 | 0.72% | 7 | 1.69% | 33 | 7.97% | 414 |
| Amador | 6,251 | 61.19% | 3,643 | 35.66% | 88 | 0.86% | 87 | 0.85% | 146 | 1.43% | 2,608 | 25.53% | 10,215 |
| Butte | 36,074 | 58.13% | 23,734 | 38.25% | 793 | 1.28% | 813 | 1.31% | 639 | 1.03% | 12,340 | 19.89% | 62,053 |
| Calaveras | 6,277 | 61.63% | 3,501 | 34.37% | 157 | 1.54% | 126 | 1.24% | 124 | 1.22% | 2,776 | 27.26% | 10,185 |
| Colusa | 3,036 | 62.95% | 1,621 | 33.61% | 53 | 1.10% | 68 | 1.41% | 45 | 0.93% | 1,415 | 29.34% | 4,823 |
| Contra Costa | 126,460 | 49.83% | 119,712 | 47.17% | 3,167 | 1.25% | 2,249 | 0.89% | 2,200 | 0.87% | 6,748 | 2.66% | 253,788 |
| Del Norte | 3,355 | 51.32% | 2,934 | 44.88% | 72 | 1.10% | 107 | 1.64% | 70 | 1.07% | 421 | 6.44% | 6,538 |
| El Dorado | 20,591 | 59.37% | 12,999 | 37.48% | 423 | 1.22% | 284 | 0.82% | 383 | 1.10% | 7,592 | 21.89% | 34,680 |
| Fresno | 80,171 | 52.59% | 68,623 | 45.01% | 1,468 | 0.96% | 1,213 | 0.80% | 978 | 0.64% | 11,548 | 7.57% | 152,453 |
| Glenn | 5,492 | 67.49% | 2,398 | 29.47% | 79 | 0.97% | 43 | 0.53% | 126 | 1.55% | 3,094 | 38.02% | 8,138 |
| Humboldt | 21,609 | 45.38% | 23,991 | 50.38% | 622 | 1.31% | 748 | 1.57% | 653 | 1.37% | -2,382 | -5.00% | 47,623 |
| Imperial | 10,272 | 51.40% | 9,133 | 45.70% | 140 | 0.70% | 204 | 1.02% | 237 | 1.19% | 1,139 | 5.70% | 19,986 |
| Inyo | 5,008 | 63.87% | 2.599 | 33.15% | 88 | 1.12% | 65 | 0.83% | 81 | 1.03% | 2,409 | 30.72% | 7,841 |
| Kern | 70,095 | 55.30% | 53,799 | 42.44% | 935 | 0.74% | 859 | 0.68% | 1,065 | 0.84% | 16,296 | 12.86% | 126,753 |
| Kings | 9,938 | 54.64% | 7,718 | 42.43% | 140 | 0.77% | 176 | 0.97% | 217 | 1.19% | 2,220 | 12.21% | 18,189 |
| Lake | 8,867 | 53.24% | 7,143 | 42.89% | 233 | 1.40% | 184 | 1.10% | 227 | 1.36% | 1,724 | 10.35% | 16,654 |
| Lassen | 4,472 | 56.64% | 3,003 | 38.03% | 133 | 1.68% | 72 | 0.91% | 216 | 2.74% | 1,469 | 18.60% | 7,896 |
| Los Angeles | 1,024,946 | 45.67% | 1,173,149 | 52.27% | 16,794 | 0.75% | 18,163 | 0.81% | 11,184 | 0.50% | -148,203 | -6.60% | 2,244,236 |
| Madera | 10,334 | 54.57% | 7,889 | 41.66% | 312 | 1.65% | 152 | 0.80% | 250 | 1.32% | 2,445 | 12.91% | 18,937 |
| Marin | 42,260 | 42.83% | 52,534 | 53.24% | 2,371 | 2.40% | 1,066 | 1.08% | 437 | 0.44% | -10,274 | -10.41% | 98,668 |
| Mariposa | 3,255 | 56.39% | 2,324 | 40.26% | 64 | 1.11% | 60 | 1.04% | 69 | 1.20% | 931 | 16.13% | 5,772 |
| Mendocino | 12.398 | 46.82% | 12,786 | 48.29% | 422 | 1.59% | 519 | 1.96% | 353 | 1.33% | -388 | -1.47% | 26,478 |
| Merced | 17,477 | 52.62% | 14,649 | 44.10% | 467 | 1.41% | 261 | 0.79% | 362 | 1.09% | 2,828 | 8.51% | 33,216 |
| Modoc | 2,599 | 68.83% | 995 | 26.35% | 64 | 1.69% | 34 | 0.90% | 84 | 2.22% | 1,604 | 42.48% | 3,776 |
| Mono | 1,977 | 59.58% | 1,249 | 37.64% | 26 | 0.78% | 34 | 1.02% | 32 | 0.96% | 728 | 21.94% | 3,318 |
| Monterey | 37,493 | 47.78% | 38,301 | 48.81% | 958 | 1.22% | 1,067 | 1.36% | 656 | 0.84% | -808 | -1.03% | 78,475 |
| Napa | 21,812 | 54.20% | 17,042 | 42.34% | 494 | 1.23% | 454 | 1.13% | 445 | 1.11% | 4,770 | 11.85% | 40,247 |
| Nevada | 14,753 | 56.80% | 10,262 | 39.51% | 499 | 1.92% | 234 | 0.90% | 226 | 0.87% | 4,491 | 17.29% | 25,974 |
| Orange | 422,878 | 61.44% | 252,572 | 36.70% | 5,965 | 0.87% | 3,346 | 0.49% | 3,537 | 0.51% | 170,306 | 24.74% | 688,298 |
| Placer | 28,082 | 55.47% | 20,832 | 41.15% | 737 | 1.46% | 425 | 0.84% | 548 | 1.08% | 7,250 | 14.32% | 50,624 |
| Plumas | 4,237 | 53.53% | 3,355 | 42.39% | 161 | 2.03% | 61 | 0.77% | 101 | 1.28% | 882 | 11.14% | 7,915 |
| Riverside | 119,680 | 53.27% | 100,370 | 44.68% | 1,524 | 0.68% | 1,538 | 0.68% | 1,535 | 0.68% | 19,310 | 8.60% | 224,647 |
| Sacramento | 171,176 | 52.35% | 146,167 | 44.70% | 4,114 | 1.26% | 2,820 | 0.86% | 2,705 | 0.83% | 25,009 | 7.65% | 326,982 |
| San Benito | 3,608 | 46.67% | 3,782 | 48.92% | 167 | 2.16% | 75 | 0.97% | 99 | 1.28% | -174 | -2.25% | 7,731 |
| San Bernardino | 144,096 | 53.29% | 119,185 | 44.08% | 2,393 | 0.88% | 1,997 | 0.74% | 2,727 | 1.01% | 24,911 | 9.21% | 270,398 |
| San Diego | 330,037 | 52.76% | 279,113 | 44.62% | 6,642 | 1.06% | 5,043 | 0.81% | 4,681 | 0.75% | 50,924 | 8.14% | 625,516 |
| San Francisco | 69,478 | 30.43% | 151,769 | 66.47% | 2,829 | 1.24% | 3,218 | 1.41% | 1,040 | 0.46% | -82,291 | -36.04% | 228,334 |
| San Joaquin | 65,583 | 60.06% | 40,002 | 36.63% | 1,348 | 1.23% | 994 | 0.91% | 1.265 | 1.16% | 25,581 | 23.43% | 109,192 |
| San Luis Obispo | 33,457 | 52.94% | 28,417 | 44.96% | 556 | 0.88% | 383 | 0.61% | 388 | 0.61% | 5,040 | 7.97% | 63,201 |
| San Mateo | 99,527 | 46.36% | 108,374 | 50.48% | 2,977 | 1.39% | 1,948 | 0.91% | 1,843 | 0.86% | -8,847 | -4.12% | 214,669 |
| Santa Barbara | 55,682 | 48.33% | 57,164 | 49.62% | 988 | 0.86% | 801 | 0.70% | 568 | 0.49% | -1,482 | -1.29% | 115,203 |
| Santa Clara | 180,232 | 43.96% | 216,781 | 52.87% | 5,983 | 1.46% | 3,858 | 0.94% | 3,163 | 0.77% | -36,549 | -8.91% | 410,017 |
| Santa Cruz | 29,545 | 38.09% | 44,282 | 57.09% | 1,221 | 1.57% | 1,940 | 2.50% | 577 | 0.74% | -14,737 | -19.00% | 77,565 |
| Shasta | 26,902 | 57.61% | 18,053 | 38.66% | 707 | 1.51% | 394 | 0.84% | 642 | 1.37% | 8,849 | 18.95% | 46,698 |
| Sierra | 914 | 48.33% | 907 | 47.96% | 24 | 1.27% | 20 | 1.06% | 26 | 1.37% | 7 | 0.37% | 1,891 |
| Siskiyou | 9,457 | 58.40% | 6,009 | 37.11% | 259 | 1.60% | 188 | 1.16% | 281 | 1.74% | 3,448 | 21.29% | 16,194 |
| Solano | 36,968 | 50.31% | 33,997 | 46.26% | 979 | 1.33% | 706 | 0.96% | 837 | 1.14% | 2,971 | 4.04% | 73,487 |
| Sonoma | 55,968 | 45.10% | 63,542 | 51.20% | 1,735 | 1.40% | 1,747 | 1.41% | 1,115 | 0.90% | -7,574 | -6.10% | 124,107 |
| Stanislaus | 43,639 | 55.94% | 32,276 | 41.38% | 687 | 0.88% | 648 | 0.83% | 758 | 0.97% | 11,363 | 14.57% | 78,008 |
| Sutter | 10,753 | 63.33% | 5,660 | 33.33% | 184 | 1.08% | 235 | 1.38% | 148 | 0.87% | 5,093 | 29.99% | 16,980 |
| Tehama | 9,628 | 58.55% | 6,134 | 37.30% | 250 | 1.52% | 145 | 0.88% | 288 | 1.75% | 3,494 | 21.25% | 16,445 |
| Trinity | 3,100 | 53.95% | 2,351 | 40.92% | 112 | 1.95% | 66 | 1.15% | 117 | 2.04% | 749 | 13.04% | 5,746 |
| Tulare | 38,901 | 56.69% | 28,330 | 41.29% | 415 | 0.60% | 501 | 0.73% | 470 | 0.68% | 10,571 | 15.41% | 68,617 |
| Tuolumne | 8,716 | 56.84% | 6,107 | 39.82% | 160 | 1.04% | 148 | 0.97% | 204 | 1.33% | 2,609 | 17.01% | 15,335 |
| Ventura | 99,130 | 55.22% | 76,094 | 42.39% | 1,782 | 0.99% | 1,290 | 0.72% | 1,228 | 0.68% | 23,036 | 12.83% | 179,524 |
| Yolo | 19,227 | 42.99% | 24,150 | 54.00% | 485 | 1.08% | 445 | 1.00% | 415 | 0.93% | -4,923 | -11.01% | 44,722 |
| Yuba | 6,959 | 53.77% | 5,400 | 41.73% | 152 | 1.17% | 157 | 1.21% | 273 | 2.11% | 1,559 | 12.05% | 12,941 |
| Total | 3,881,014 | 49.27% | 3,787,669 | 48.09% | 81,076 | 1.03% | 70,327 | 0.89% | 56,249 | 0.71% | 93,345 | 1.19% | 7,876,698 |
Courken George Deukmejian Jr. was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, he was the state's first governor of Armenian descent.
The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6, 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won re-election for his first and only full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the California Democratic Party nominee. Peter Camejo was the California Green Party nominee, Janice Jordan was the Peace and Freedom Party nominee, Art Olivier was the California Libertarian Party nominee, and Edward C. Noonan was the California American Independent Party nominee.
The 1986 California gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican George Deukmejian won easily in this rematch over the Democratic challenger, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. This was the largest gubernatorial victory since that of Earl Warren in 1946, who won 91.64% of the vote.
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.
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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 Bradley effect is a theory concerning observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in some United States government elections where a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other. The theory proposes that some white voters who intend to vote for the white candidate would nonetheless tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for the non-white candidate. It was named after Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California gubernatorial election to California attorney general George Deukmejian, a white person, despite Bradley being ahead in voter polls going into the elections.
The 1930 California gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930. For the third consecutive election, the incumbent governor was defeated in the Republican primary. After ousting incumbent C. C. Young in the primary, Mayor of San Francisco James Rolph proceeded to win a landslide over Democratic nominee Milton K. Young. Upton Sinclair was the Socialist nominee for the second consecutive election.
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The 1918 California gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1918. William Stephens had defeated James Rolph for the Republican nomination and won the general election in a landslide after Rolph was denied the Democratic Party's nomination. Stephens was the first governor elected with an absolute majority of the vote since Henry Gage in 1898 and won the highest share of the vote since Frederick Low in 1863.
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The 2016 United States Senate election in California was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of California, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2018 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of California, concurrently with elections for the rest of California's executive branch, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jerry Brown was ineligible to run for re-election for a third consecutive term due to term limits from the Constitution of California. The race was between the incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and businessman John H. Cox, a Republican, who qualified for the general election after placing first and second in the June 5, 2018, primary election.
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The 2022 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of California, with the statewide top-two primary election taking place on June 7, 2022. Incumbent Democratic Party Governor Gavin Newsom was re-elected to a second term after surviving a recall election in 2021, during his first term.
The 1962 California lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962. Democratic incumbent Glenn M. Anderson narrowly defeated Republican nominee George Christopher with 51.42% of the vote.
The 1978 California Attorney General election was held on November 7, 1978. Republican nominee George Deukmejian defeated Democratic nominee Yvonne Brathwaite Burke with 52.88% of the vote.
The 1970 California Attorney General election was held on November 3, 1970. Republican nominee Evelle J. Younger defeated Democratic nominee Charles A. O'Brien with 49.28% of the vote.
The 2022 California Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of California. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta was appointed to the office on April 23, 2021, following the resignation of Xavier Becerra to become the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Bonta won a full term.
