California gubernatorial election, 1978

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California gubernatorial election, 1978
Flag of California.svg
  1974 November 7, 1978 1982  

  Jerry Brown 1978 cropped.jpg Evelle J. Younger (a).jpg No image.svg
Nominee Jerry Brown Evelle J. Younger Ed Clark
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote3,878,8122,526,534377,960
Percentage56.05%36.50%5.46%

California Gubernatorial Election Results by County, 1978.svg
County Results

Brown:     40-50%     50–60%     60-70%

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, in a landslide.

The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of California. The party is headquartered in Sacramento, and is led by acting-Chair Alex Gallardo-Rooker.

Jerry Brown 34th and 39th Governor of California

Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. is an American politician who served as the 34th and 39th Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Brown served as California Attorney General from 2007 to 2011. He was both the oldest and sixth-youngest Governor of California as a consequence of the 28-year gap between his second and third terms.

The California Republican Party (CAGOP) is the California affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party is based in Sacramento, and is led by Chairwoman Jessica Patterson.

Contents

Primary election summary

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 most newsworthy battle in this primary election was 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.

Howard Arnold Jarvis was an American businessman, lobbyist, and politician. He was an anti-tax activist responsible for passage of California's Proposition 13 in 1978.

Primary Election-Republican June 6, 1978

CandidatePartyVotes%
Evelle J. Younger Republican 1,008,08741.0
Edward M. Davis Republican 738,08730.0
Kenneth Maddy Republican 484,58319.7
Pete Wilson Republican 230,1469.3

Primary Election-Democratic June 6, 1978

CandidatePartyVotes%
Jerry Brown(i) Democrat 2,567,06777.5
David Rock Democrat 132,7064.0
John Hancock Abbott Democrat 127,5063.9
Others Democrat 357,24514.6

General election

What followed in the general election was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in California election history. Younger attempted to seize the momentum from his support and passage of Proposition 13, but was a drab speaker, dull campaigner, and lacked an effective organization. In addition, the tough primary battle left him short of money. On the other hand, Brown, who opposed Proposition 13, used the power of incumbency and announced "the people have spoken, and as Governor I will diligently enforce their will." Thus Brown turned a negative into a positive. In addition, since he was relatively unchallenged in the primary, he had a much bigger campaign war chest. Brown ultimately won reelection in a landslide.

1978 gubernatorial election, California
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jerry Brown (Incumbent)3,878,81256.05
Republican Evelle J. Younger 2,526,53436.50
Independent Ed Clark 377,9605.46
Peace and Freedom Marilyn Seals70,8641.02
American Independent Theresa F. "Tena" Dietrich67,1030.97
Total votes6,921,273100.00
Turnout {{{votes}}}
Democratic hold

Results by county

Brown is the most recent Democratic California gubernatorial nominee to have won Kern County and Orange County.

County Brown Votes Younger Votes Clark VotesOthersVotes
San Francisco 69.46%156,60122.81%51,4295.13%11,5772.60%5,858
Alameda 63.81%217,74625.97%88,6197.13%24,3363.08%10,516
Santa Clara 61.35%227,49329.79%110,4446.89%25,5501.97%7,296
Santa Cruz 60.85%40,49031.11%20,6985.21%3,4702.83%1,882
Yolo 59.39%24,35730.97%12,7037.47%3,0642.17%891
Solano 58.05%34,51333.94%20,1766.17%3,6701.84%1,093
San Diego 57.49%316,22335.85%197,1674.72%25,9641.94%10,653
Los Angeles 57.34%1,178,36836.23%744,4914.56%93,6921.87%38,461
Santa Barbara 56.68%59,93336.56%38,6564.50%4,7632.25%2,379
San Mateo 56.18%113,40234.25%69,1317.47%15,0722.10%4,243
Marin 55.75%49,75933.49%29,8888.61%7,6832.16%1,925
Fresno 55.67%71,65739.58%50,9502.84%3,6531.91%2,459
Merced 55.62%16,82540.21%12,1652.50%7561.67%505
Stanislaus 55.62%36,67638.29%25,2473.85%2,5392.25%1,481
Plumas 55.48%3,59939.17%2,5413.21%2082.14%139
Shasta 55.26%19,43236.11%12,6986.42%2,2562.21%777
Sacramento 54.91%139,82134.74%88,4458.30%21,1372.05%5,211
Yuba 54.84%6,43437.52%4,4025.75%6751.88%221
Sonoma 54.29%56,92035.85%37,5847.16%7,5062.70%2,836
Contra Costa 54.27%122,56535.79%80,8217.97%17,9891.97%4,458
Riverside 54.23%101,37740.42%75,5643.74%6,9821.61%3,007
Mendocino 54.14%11,87736.09%7,9166.57%1,4423.20%702
San Bernardino 54.01%115,08240.66%86,6383.36%7,1511.98%4,224
Kings 53.84%8,79442.49%6,9401.72%2811.96%320
Mariposa 53.02%2,36139.84%1,7744.76%2122.38%106
Lake 52.87%6,67039.72%5,0125.16%6512.25%284
Ventura 52.78%75,17340.57%57,7774.86%6,9161.80%2,557
Alpine 52.74%20239.43%1514.70%183.13%12
Monterey 52.35%34,64941.07%27,1804.95%3,2781.63%1,080
Madera 52.17%7,52943.16%6,2302.87%4141.80%260
San Joaquin 52.17%49,16941.84%39,4254.31%4,0631.68%1,582
San Luis Obispo 51.20%25,69543.22%21,6893.53%1,7722.05%1,030
Placer 51.12%20,38439.03%15,5638.38%3,3421.48%589
Siskiyou 51.11%6,85142.88%5,7473.71%4972.31%309
Tuolumne 51.09%6,77243.44%5,7573.61%4781.86%247
Napa 50.53%19,20241.11%15,6216.48%2,4611.89%717
Trinity 50.39%2,21540.24%1,7696.78%2982.59%114
Humboldt 50.37%21,24339.49%16,6586.60%2,7833.54%1,494
Lassen 50.34%3,37742.47%2,8494.83%3242.37%159
Tehama 50.25%5,98641.99%5,0025.33%6352.43%289
Amador 49.65%4,14442.34%3,5345.71%4772.30%192
Butte 49.65%26,05142.20%22,1425.79%3,0382.37%1,243
Sierra 49.45%72543.93%6444.84%711.77%26
San Benito 49.23%2,80542.31%2,4116.12%3492.33%133
Calaveras 48.74%4,01944.76%3,6914.57%3771.93%159
Orange 48.68%299,57744.21%272,0765.67%34,9031.43%8,821
El Dorado 48.35%13,83242.60%12,1876.36%1,8192.69%771
Kern 47.71%49,14440.32%41,53110.25%10,5601.71%1,760
Tulare 46.80%24,98948.95%26,1362.48%1,3221.78%949
Imperial 46.05%8,38547.39%8,6294.78%8701.78%324
Nevada 45.36%9,01642.09%8,36511.25%2,2361.30%259
Colusa 45.01%1,95846.09%2,0057.22%3141.68%73
Mono 44.82%1,04250.06%1,1643.27%761.85%43
Sutter 44.09%6,35747.65%6,8716.96%1,0031.30%188
Glenn 42.98%3,12048.51%3,5216.12%4442.40%174
Del Norte 41.73%2,45149.93%2,9333.20%1885.14%302
Modoc 40.28%1,23552.71%1,6164.47%1372.54%78
Inyo 39.53%2,54055.42%3,5613.39%2181.65%106

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