1974 California gubernatorial election
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. This is the first election since 1958 to not feature a Republican candidate that went on to become a U.S. president. With Brown’s election, California had a Democratic Governor and two Democratic Senators (John V. Tunney and Alan Cranston) for the first time since the Civil War. This is the earliest election where one candidate is still alive or living today as of 2023.
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 County results Brown: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Flournoy: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in California |
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Election background
For the first time since 1958, 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, 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.
Brown had statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats outnumbered Republicans in California, 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.
Primary results
Democratic
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jerry Brown | 1,085,752 | 37.8 | |
| Democratic | Joseph Alioto | 544,007 | 18.9 | |
| Democratic | Bob Moretti | 478,469 | 16.6 | |
| Democratic | William M. Roth | 290,093 | 10.3 | |
| Democratic | Jerome R. Waldie | 227,489 | 7.9 | |
| Democratic | Baxter Ward | 79,745 | 2.8 | |
| Democratic | Herbert Hafif | 77,505 | 2.7 | |
Republican
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Houston I. Flournoy | 1,164,015 | 63.0 | |
| Republican | Ed Reinecke | 556,259 | 30.1 | |
| Republican | James Ware | 36,784 | 2.0 | |
| Republican | Glenn Mitchel | 31,518 | 1.7 | |
| Republican | J. F. Stay | 29,297 | 1.6 | |
| Republican | William Nelson | 22,597 | 1.2 | |
| Republican | Others | 8,355 | 0.5 | |
Peace and Freedom Party
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peace and Freedom | Elizabeth Keathley | 2,111 | 28.1 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Lester Higby | 1,855 | 24.7 | |
| Peace and Freedom | C. T. Weber | 1,822 | 24.2 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Trudy Saposhnek | 1,417 | 18.8 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Scattering | 319 | 4.2 | |
General election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jerry Brown | 3,131,648 | 50.11 | |||
| Republican | Houston I. Flournoy | 2,952,954 | 47.25 | |||
| American Independent | Edmon V. Kaiser | 83,869 | 1.34 | |||
| Peace and Freedom | Elizabeth Keathley | 75,004 | 1.20 | |||
| Total votes | 6,249,370 | 100.00 | ||||
| Turnout | 64.1 [5] | |||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
Results by county
| County | Brown | Votes | Flournoy | Votes | Others | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 61.81% | 136,896 | 35.56% | 78,759 | 2.63% | 5,815 |
| Alameda | 60.15% | 200,165 | 37.16% | 123,656 | 2.68% | 8,929 |
| Humboldt | 58.66% | 22,805 | 38.48% | 14,958 | 2.86% | 1,112 |
| Lassen | 57.13% | 3,111 | 39.76% | 2,165 | 3.10% | 169 |
| Plumas | 55.77% | 3,031 | 41.93% | 2,279 | 2.30% | 125 |
| Shasta | 55.51% | 15,764 | 41.25% | 11,716 | 3.24% | 921 |
| Solano | 54.43% | 24,955 | 42.58% | 19,524 | 2.99% | 1,372 |
| Yolo | 54.00% | 18,249 | 43.60% | 14,734 | 2.39% | 809 |
| Siskiyou | 53.93% | 6,515 | 43.28% | 5,229 | 2.79% | 337 |
| Sierra | 52.99% | 629 | 43.22% | 513 | 3.79% | 45 |
| Los Angeles | 52.84% | 1,059,533 | 44.82% | 898,808 | 2.34% | 46,824 |
| Fresno | 52.41% | 61,596 | 45.36% | 53,308 | 2.22% | 2,614 |
| Kings | 52.11% | 7,444 | 45.78% | 6,540 | 2.11% | 301 |
| Merced | 51.89% | 12,779 | 46.05% | 11,339 | 2.06% | 507 |
| Sacramento | 51.62% | 117,711 | 45.86% | 104,595 | 2.52% | 5,746 |
| Del Norte | 51.60% | 2,149 | 46.12% | 1,921 | 2.28% | 95 |
| Trinity | 51.24% | 1,762 | 44.17% | 1,519 | 4.59% | 158 |
| Madera | 51.17% | 5,584 | 47.08% | 5,137 | 1.75% | 191 |
| Yuba | 51.04% | 5,237 | 46.32% | 4,752 | 2.64% | 271 |
| Santa Clara | 50.63% | 166,760 | 46.69% | 153,761 | 2.68% | 8,829 |
| Placer | 50.50% | 15,744 | 46.54% | 14,510 | 2.96% | 924 |
| Mendocino | 50.31% | 9,158 | 46.00% | 8,373 | 3.69% | 672 |
| San Bernardino | 49.85% | 87,133 | 47.27% | 82,611 | 2.88% | 5,038 |
| Tehama | 49.73% | 5,618 | 47.56% | 5,373 | 2.71% | 306 |
| San Mateo | 49.62% | 91,808 | 47.69% | 88,235 | 2.69% | 4,983 |
| Imperial | 49.04% | 9,033 | 48.92% | 9,011 | 2.03% | 374 |
| Santa Cruz | 48.67% | 28,600 | 47.23% | 27,750 | 4.10% | 2,409 |
| Sonoma | 48.48% | 40,756 | 47.98% | 40,339 | 3.54% | 2,975 |
| Contra Costa | 48.31% | 97,038 | 49.52% | 99,470 | 2.16% | 4,347 |
| Kern | 48.29% | 44,828 | 49.31% | 45,775 | 2.41% | 2,237 |
| Stanislaus | 47.97% | 27,931 | 50.13% | 29,186 | 1.89% | 1,103 |
| Riverside | 47.93% | 70,515 | 49.69% | 73,102 | 2.37% | 3,489 |
| San Luis Obispo | 47.82% | 19,429 | 49.96% | 20,300 | 2.22% | 904 |
| Napa | 47.44% | 15,200 | 50.09% | 16,048 | 2.47% | 791 |
| Ventura | 47.20% | 56,189 | 50.50% | 60,122 | 2.30% | 2,738 |
| Amador | 46.48% | 3,198 | 50.63% | 3,483 | 2.89% | 199 |
| El Dorado | 46.09% | 8,076 | 50.92% | 8,922 | 3.00% | 525 |
| Monterey | 46.09% | 28,832 | 51.50% | 32,218 | 2.42% | 1,512 |
| Santa Barbara | 45.99% | 42,221 | 51.48% | 47,263 | 2.53% | 2,324 |
| Marin | 45.84% | 36,384 | 51.18% | 40,619 | 2.97% | 2,361 |
| Lake | 45.71% | 4,733 | 51.97% | 5,381 | 2.32% | 240 |
| San Joaquin | 45.69% | 38,429 | 52.01% | 43,744 | 2.29% | 1,927 |
| Mariposa | 45.28% | 1,658 | 51.69% | 1,893 | 3.03% | 111 |
| San Benito | 45.05% | 2,722 | 52.95% | 3,199 | 2.00% | 121 |
| Tulare | 44.93% | 20,589 | 52.60% | 24,103 | 2.47% | 1,132 |
| Alpine | 44.90% | 185 | 51.46% | 212 | 3.64% | 15 |
| Modoc | 44.16% | 1,395 | 53.97% | 1,705 | 1.87% | 59 |
| San Diego | 42.82% | 196,930 | 54.24% | 249,444 | 2.94% | 13,500 |
| Colusa | 42.16% | 1,884 | 56.01% | 2,503 | 1.83% | 82 |
| Inyo | 41.54% | 2,417 | 55.65% | 3,238 | 2.82% | 164 |
| Butte | 41.47% | 17,007 | 54.86% | 22,499 | 3.66% | 1,502 |
| Calaveras | 41.25% | 2,702 | 56.63% | 3,709 | 2.12% | 139 |
| Nevada | 41.00% | 5,225 | 55.72% | 7,101 | 3.28% | 418 |
| Glenn | 40.86% | 2,645 | 56.77% | 3,675 | 2.38% | 154 |
| Orange | 40.60% | 212,638 | 56.87% | 297,870 | 2.54% | 13,288 |
| Tuolumne | 40.16% | 4,165 | 57.39% | 5,952 | 2.46% | 255 |
| Mono | 39.45% | 817 | 56.06% | 1,161 | 4.49% | 93 |
| Sutter | 39.32% | 5,141 | 58.45% | 7,642 | 2.23% | 292 |
References
- "CA Governor - D Primary Race". Our Campaigns. June 4, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
- "CA Governor - R Primary Race". Our Campaigns. June 4, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
- "CA Governor - PFP Primary Race". Our Campaigns. June 4, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
- "CA Governor Race". Our Campaigns. November 5, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
- "California Secretary of State Statewide General Elections - Historical Voter Participation Statistics from 1910 to 2009". Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.