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1974 California gubernatorial election
County results Congressional district results Brown : 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%Flournoy : 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
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 retired 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 to feature a candidate who is still alive or living today as of 2024.
Election background [ edit ]
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 [ edit ]
Democratic [ edit ]
Republican [ edit ]
Peace and Freedom Party [ edit ]
General election results [ edit ]
Results by county [ edit ]
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 [ edit ]
^ "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 .