California gubernatorial election, 1974

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California gubernatorial election, 1974
Flag of California.svg
  1970 November 5, 1974 1978  

  Jerry Brown 1978 cropped.jpg No image.svg
Nominee Jerry Brown Houston I. Flournoy
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote3,131,6482,952,954
Percentage50.11%47.25%

CA1974Gov.svg
Election results by county

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.

A primary election is the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming general election or by-election, thus narrowing the field of candidates.

Governor of California head of state and of government of the U.S. state of California

The Governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The California Governor is the chief executive of the state government and the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Military Reserve.

Ronald Reagan 40th president of the United States

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975.

Contents

Election background

For the first time since 1930, 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, 8 year 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.

The incumbent is the current holder of an office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent(s). For example, in the Hungarian presidential election, 2017, János Áder was the incumbent, because he had been the president in the term before the term for which the election sought to determine the president. A race without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat.

Lieutenant Governor of California statewide constitutional officer and vice-executive of the U.S. state of California

The Lieutenant Governor of California is a statewide constitutional officer and vice-executive of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to basically ceremonial roles, serving as acting governor in the absence of the Governor of California and as President of the California State Senate, the lieutenant governor either sits on many of California's regulatory commissions and executive agencies.

Edwin Reinecke American politician

Howard Edwin "Ed" Reinecke was an American politician from California. He served three terms in the United States House of Representatives. He was the 39th state lieutenant governor from 1969 until his resignation in 1974 in connection with a Federal conviction for perjury..

Brown had the statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats now outnumbered Republicans in CA, 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.

Secretary of State of California chief elections officer of California, United States

The Secretary of State of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. State of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of State is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers, and is restricted by term limits to only two terms. The current Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, took office on January 5, 2015.

Primary results

Democratic

Candidate# of votes [1] % of votes
Jerry Brown 1,085,75237.8
Joseph Alioto 544,00718.9
Bob Moretti 478,46916.6
William M. Roth 290,09310.3
Jerome R. Waldie 227,4897.9
Baxter Ward 79,7452.8
Herbert Hafif77,5052.7

Republican

Candidate# of votes [2] % of votes
Houston I. Flournoy 1,164,01563.0
Ed Reinecke 556,25930.1
James Ware36,7842.0
Glenn Mitchel31,5181.7
J. F. Stay29,2971.6
William Nelson22,5971.2
Others8,3550.5

Peace and Freedom Party

Candidate# of votes [3] % of votes
Elizabeth Keathley2,11128.1
Lester Higby1,85524.7
C. T. Weber1,82224.2
Trudy Saposhnek1,41718.8
Scattering3194.2

General election results

1974 gubernatorial election, California [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jerry Brown 3,131,64850.11
Republican Houston I. Flournoy 2,952,95447.25
American Independent Edmon V. Kaiser83,8691.34
Peace and Freedom Elizabeth Keathley75,0041.20
Total votes6,249,370100.00
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. 1974-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  2. "CA Governor - R Primary Race". Our Campaigns. 1974-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  3. "CA Governor - PFP Primary Race". Our Campaigns. 1974-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  4. "CA Governor Race". Our Campaigns. 1974-11-05. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  5. "California Secretary of State Statewide General Elections - Historical Voter Participation Statistics from 1910 to 2009". Archived from the original on 2010-10-11. Retrieved 2010-10-11.