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.
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 Election results by county Brown: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% Flournoy: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in California |
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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, 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.
Brown had the statewide name recognition, benefited from the fact Democrats now 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
| Candidate | # of votes[1] | % of votes |
|---|---|---|
| Jerry Brown | 1,085,752 | 37.8 |
| Joseph Alioto | 544,007 | 18.9 |
| Bob Moretti | 478,469 | 16.6 |
| William M. Roth | 290,093 | 10.3 |
| Jerome R. Waldie | 227,489 | 7.9 |
| Baxter Ward | 79,745 | 2.8 |
| Herbert Hafif | 77,505 | 2.7 |
Republican
| Candidate | # of votes[2] | % of votes |
|---|---|---|
| Houston I. Flournoy | 1,164,015 | 63.0 |
| Ed Reinecke | 556,259 | 30.1 |
| James Ware | 36,784 | 2.0 |
| Glenn Mitchel | 31,518 | 1.7 |
| J. F. Stay | 29,297 | 1.6 |
| William Nelson | 22,597 | 1.2 |
| Others | 8,355 | 0.5 |
Peace and Freedom Party
| Candidate | # of votes[3] | % of votes |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Keathley | 2,111 | 28.1 |
| Lester Higby | 1,855 | 24.7 |
| C. T. Weber | 1,822 | 24.2 |
| Trudy Saposhnek | 1,417 | 18.8 |
| 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. 1974-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- "CA Governor - R Primary Race". Our Campaigns. 1974-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- "CA Governor - PFP Primary Race". Our Campaigns. 1974-06-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- "CA Governor Race". Our Campaigns. 1974-11-05. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- "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.