1978 California gubernatorial election

1978 California gubernatorial election
← 1974 November 7, 1978 1982 →
 
Nominee Jerry Brown Evelle Younger Ed Clark
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote 3,878,812 2,526,534 377,960
Percentage 56.05% 36.50% 5.46%
Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Younger:      40–50%      50–60%
Governor before election

Jerry Brown
Democratic

Elected Governor

Jerry Brown
Democratic

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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.

Primary election results

[edit]

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 primary election included 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.

Republican Party

[edit]
Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Evelle J. Younger 1,008,087 40.04%
Republican Ed Davis 738,087 29.34%
Republican Ken Maddy 484,583 19.25%
Republican Pete Wilson 230,146 9.14%
Republican John V. Briggs 35,147 1.40%
Republican True R. Slocum Jr. 11,824 0.47%
Republican Elmer L. Crutchley 8,951 0.36%
Republican Scattering 1 0.00%
Total votes 2,517,480 100.00%

Democratic Party

[edit]
Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Edmund G. Brown Jr. (incumbent) 2,567,067 77.53%
Democratic David Rock 132,706 4.01%
Democratic John Hancock Abbott 127,506 3.85%
Democratic George B. Roden 125,790 3.80%
Democratic Jules Kimmett 83,339 2.52%
Democratic Gene Atherton 80,224 2.42%
Democratic Alex D. Aloia 67,892 2.05%
Democratic Raymond V. Liebenberg 65,219 1.97%
Democratic Lowell Darling 60,997 1.84%
Democratic Scattering 178 0.01%
Total votes 3,310,918 100.00%

American Independent Party

[edit]
American Independent primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
American Independent Theresa F. Dietrich 12,278 57.40%
American Independent Laszlo Kecskemethy 9,112 42.60%
Total votes 21,390 100.00%

Peace and Freedom Party

[edit]
Peace and Freedom primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Peace and Freedom Marilyn Sands 6,278 100.00%
Total votes 6,278 100.00%

General election

[edit]

The primary battle left Younger short of money, while Brown had a much larger campaign fund and won reelection in a landslide.

1978 California gubernatorial election[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Edmund G. Brown Jr. (Incumbent) 3,878,812 56.03% +5.91%
Republican Evelle J. Younger 2,526,534 36.50% −10.76%
Independent Ed Clark 377,960 5.46%
Peace and Freedom Marilyn Seals 70,864 1.02% −0.18%
American Independent Theresa F. Dietrich 67,103 0.97% −0.37%
Scattering 1,105 0.02%
Majority 1,352,278 19.53%
Total votes 6,922,378 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing +16.67%

Results by county

[edit]

Jerry Brown's landslide victory ended three of the remaining four very long streaks of Republican dominance in California counties. Brown was the first Democrat to ever carry Alpine County in a gubernatorial election since its establishment in 1864. The same was true for Orange County; it had always backed the Republican candidate since its establishment in 1889. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara County backed a Democratic candidate for the first time since 1882. After this election, the lone county with a long history of backing Republicans was Mono County, which had never backed a Democratic candidate since its founding in 1861[a] and would not vote Democratic until 1998.

Conversely, Jerry Brown remains the most recent Democrat to carry any of the following counties: Butte County, Calaveras County, El Dorado County, Fresno County, Kern County, Lassen County, Madera County, Mariposa County, Placer County, Plumas County, Shasta County, Sierra County, Siskiyou County, Tehama County, Tuolumne County, and Yuba County.

County Edmund G. Brown Jr.
Democratic 		Evelle J. Younger
Republican 		Ed Clark
Independent 		Marilyn Seals
Peace & Freedom 		Theresa F. Dietrich
American Independent 		Margin Total votes cast[b][2]
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 217,746 63.81% 88,619 25.97% 24,336 7.13% 7,375 2.16% 3,141 0.92% 129,127 37.84% 341,217
Alpine 202 52.74% 151 39.43% 18 4.70% 5 1.31% 7 1.83% 51 13.32% 383
Amador 4,144 49.65% 3,534 42.34% 477 5.71% 56 0.67% 136 1.63% 610 7.31% 8,347
Butte 26,051 49.65% 22,142 42.20% 3,038 5.79% 609 1.16% 634 1.21% 3,909 7.45% 52,474
Calaveras 4,019 48.74% 3,691 44.76% 377 4.57% 73 0.89% 86 1.04% 328 3.98% 8,246
Colusa 1,958 45.01% 2,005 46.09% 314 7.22% 37 0.85% 36 0.83% -47 -1.08% 4,350
Contra Costa 122,565 54.27% 80,821 35.79% 17,989 7.97% 2,208 0.98% 2,250 1.00% 41,744 18.48% 225,833
Del Norte 2,451 41.73% 2,933 49.93% 188 3.20% 77 1.31% 225 3.83% -482 -8.21% 5,874
El Dorado 13,832 48.35% 12,187 42.60% 1,819 6.36% 305 1.07% 466 1.63% 1,645 5.75% 28,609
Fresno 71,657 55.67% 50,950 39.58% 3,653 2.84% 1,135 0.88% 1,324 1.03% 20,707 16.09% 128,719
Glenn 3,120 42.98% 3,521 48.51% 444 6.12% 57 0.79% 117 1.61% -401 -5.52% 7,259
Humboldt 21,243 50.37% 16,658 39.49% 2,783 6.60% 713 1.69% 781 1.85% 4,585 10.87% 42,178
Imperial 8,385 46.05% 8,629 47.39% 870 4.78% 157 0.86% 167 0.92% -244 -1.34% 18,208
Inyo 2,540 39.53% 3,561 55.42% 218 3.39% 47 0.73% 59 0.92% -1,021 -15.89% 6,425
Kern 49,144 47.71% 41,531 40.32% 10,560 10.25% 682 0.66% 1,078 1.05% 7,613 7.39% 102,995
Kings 8,794 53.84% 6,940 42.49% 281 1.72% 105 0.64% 215 1.32% 1,854 11.35% 16,335
Lake 6,670 52.87% 5,012 39.72% 651 5.16% 132 1.05% 152 1.20% 1,658 13.14% 12,617
Lassen 3,377 50.34% 2,849 42.47% 324 4.83% 57 0.85% 102 1.52% 528 7.87% 6,709
Los Angeles 1,178,368 57.34% 744,491 36.23% 93,692 4.56% 20,205 0.98% 18,256 0.89% 433,877 21.11% 2,055,012
Madera 7,529 52.17% 6,230 43.16% 414 2.87% 110 0.76% 150 1.04% 1,299 9.00% 14,433
Marin 49,759 55.75% 29,888 33.49% 7,683 8.61% 1,227 1.37% 698 0.78% 19,871 22.26% 89,255
Mariposa 2,361 53.02% 1,774 39.84% 212 4.76% 31 0.70% 75 1.68% 587 13.18% 4,453
Mendocino 11,877 54.14% 7,916 36.09% 1,442 6.57% 377 1.72% 325 1.48% 3,961 18.06% 21,937
Merced 16,825 55.62% 12,165 40.21% 756 2.50% 202 0.67% 303 1.00% 4,660 15.40% 30,251
Modoc 1,235 40.28% 1,616 52.71% 137 4.47% 27 0.88% 51 1.66% -381 -12.43% 3,066
Mono 1,042 44.82% 1,164 50.06% 76 3.27% 18 0.77% 25 1.08% -122 -5.25% 2,325
Monterey 34,649 52.35% 27,180 41.07% 3,278 4.95% 550 0.83% 530 0.80% 7,469 11.28% 66,187
Napa 19,202 50.53% 15,621 41.11% 2,461 6.48% 373 0.98% 344 0.91% 3,581 9.42% 38,001
Nevada 9,016 45.36% 8,365 42.09% 2,236 11.25% 123 0.62% 136 0.68% 651 3.28% 19,876
Orange 299,577 48.68% 272,076 44.21% 34,903 5.67% 3,845 0.62% 4,976 0.81% 27,501 4.47% 615,377
Placer 20,384 51.12% 15,563 39.03% 3,342 8.38% 268 0.67% 321 0.80% 4,821 12.09% 39,878
Plumas 3,599 55.48% 2,541 39.17% 208 3.21% 37 0.57% 102 1.57% 1,058 16.31% 6,487
Riverside 101,377 54.23% 75,564 40.42% 6,982 3.74% 1,235 0.66% 1,772 0.95% 25,813 13.81% 186.930
Sacramento 139,821 54.91% 88,445 34.74% 21,137 8.30% 2,862 1.12% 2,349 0.92% 51,376 20.18% 254,614
San Benito 2,805 49.23% 2,411 42.31% 349 6.12% 71 1.25% 62 1.09% 394 6.91% 5,698
San Bernardino 115,082 54.01% 86,638 40.66% 7,151 3.36% 1,402 0.66% 2,822 1.32% 28,444 13.35% 213,095
San Diego 316,223 57.49% 197,167 35.85% 25,964 4.72% 3,708 0.67% 6,945 1.26% 119,056 21.65% 550,007
San Francisco 156,601 69.46% 51,429 22.81% 11,577 5.13% 4,400 1.95% 1,458 0.65% 105,172 46.65% 225,465
San Joaquin 49,169 52.17% 39,425 41.84% 4,063 4.31% 536 0.57% 1,046 1.11% 9,744 10.34% 94,239
San Luis Obispo 25,695 51.20% 21,689 43.22% 1,772 3.53% 552 1.10% 478 0.95% 4,006 7.98% 50,186
San Mateo 113,402 56.18% 69,131 34.25% 15,072 7.47% 2,565 1.27% 1,678 0.83% 44,271 21.93% 201,848
Santa Barbara 59,933 56.68% 38,656 36.56% 4,763 4.50% 1,521 1.44% 858 0.81% 21,277 20.12% 105,731
Santa Clara 227,493 61.35% 110,444 29.79% 25,550 6.89% 3,784 1.02% 3,512 0.95% 117,049 31.57% 370,783
Santa Cruz 40,490 60.85% 20,698 31.11% 3,470 5.21% 1,376 2.07% 506 0.76% 19,792 29.74% 66,540
Shasta 19,432 55.26% 12,698 36.11% 2,256 6.42% 276 0.78% 501 1.42% 6,734 19.15% 35,163
Sierra 725 49.45% 644 43.93% 71 4.84% 11 0.75% 15 1.02% 81 5.53% 1,466
Siskiyou 6,851 51.11% 5,747 42.88% 497 3.71% 113 0.84% 196 1.46% 1,104 8.24% 13,404
Solano 34,513 58.05% 20,176 33.94% 3,670 6.17% 535 0.90% 558 0.94% 14,337 24.12% 59,452
Sonoma 56,920 54.29% 37,584 35.85% 7,506 7.16% 1,855 1.77% 981 0.94% 19,336 18.44% 104,846
Stanislaus 36,676 55.62% 25,247 38.29% 2,539 3.85% 678 1.03% 803 1.22% 11,429 17.33% 65,943
Sutter 6,357 44.09% 6,871 47.65% 1,003 6.96% 77 0.53% 111 0.77% -514 -3.56% 14,419
Tehama 5,986 50.25% 5,002 41.99% 635 5.33% 81 0.68% 208 1.75% 984 8.26% 11,912
Trinity 2,215 50.39% 1,769 40.24% 298 6.78% 44 1.00% 70 1.59% 446 10.15% 4,396
Tulare 24,989 46.80% 26,136 48.95% 1,322 2.48% 315 0.59% 634 1.19% -1,147 -2.15% 53,396
Tuolumne 6,772 51.09% 5,757 43.44% 478 3.61% 103 0.78% 144 1.09% 1,015 7.66% 13,254
Ventura 75,173 52.78% 57,777 40.57% 6,916 4.86% 854 0.60% 1,703 1.20% 17,396 12.21% 142,423
Yolo 24,357 59.39% 12,703 30.97% 3,064 7.47% 593 1.45% 298 0.73% 11,654 28.41% 41,015
Yuba 6,434 54.84% 4,402 37.52% 675 5.75% 94 0.80% 127 1.08% 2,032 17.32% 11,732
Total 3,878,812 56.03% 2,526,534 36.50% 377,960 5.46% 70,864 1.02% 67,103 0.97% 1,352,278 19.53% 6,922,378

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

[edit]

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Mono County was carried by the Southern Democratic candidate in 1861 and an Independent candidate in 1875
  2. ^ County totals do not include the write-in votes, which are only given as statewide totals in the Statement Of Vote

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote and Supplement Primary Election June 6, 1978. Sacramento, California. pp. 1–2. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  2. ^ a b California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote and Supplement General Election, November 7, 1978. Sacramento, California. p. 1. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
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