1978 California gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1978 California gubernatorial election California presidential no 1974 California gubernatorial election 1974 1982 California gubernatorial election 1982 November 7, 1978 Jerry Brown 1975 Alt Colors Edit.jpg Jerry Brown Democratic Party (United States) 3,878,812 56.05% Evelle J. Younger, 1971.jpg Evelle Younger Republican Party (United States) 2,526,534 36.50% Ed Clark (cropped).jpg Ed Clark Independent 377,960 5.46% 300px County results 300px Congressional district results Brown: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Younger: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% Governor Jerry Brown Democratic Party (United States) Jerry Brown Democratic Party (United States) 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 elections were held on June 6. The party primaries were overshadowed by the results of Proposition 13, an initiative to alter the state property tax formula, which was approved on the same day. Brown had only minor opposition in the Democratic primary, and Younger defeated LAPD chief Edward M. Davis and Ken Maddy in the Republican primary. San Diego mayor Pete Wilson and John Briggs, the sponsor of Proposition 6 on the November ballot, also ran. Democratic primary Candidates John Hancock Abbott Alex D. Aloia Gene Atherton Jerry Brown, incumbent governor since 1975 Lowell Darling Jules Kimmett Raymond V. Liebenberg David Rock George B. Roden Results Democratic primary results Democratic Party (United States) Edmund G. Brown Jr. (incumbent) 2,567,067 77.53% Democratic Party (United States) David Rock 132,706 4.01% Democratic Party (United States) John Hancock Abbott 127,506 3.85% Democratic Party (United States) George B. Roden 125,790 3.80% Democratic Party (United States) Jules Kimmett 83,339 2.52% Democratic Party (United States) Gene Atherton 80,224 2.42% Democratic Party (United States) Alex D. Aloia 67,892 2.05% Democratic Party (United States) Raymond V. Liebenberg 65,219 1.97% Democratic Party (United States) Lowell Darling 60,997 1.84% Democratic Party (United States) Scattering 178 0.01% 3,310,918 100.00% Republican primary Candidates John Briggs, state senator from Fullerton and sponsor of Proposition 6 Elmer L. Crutchley Edward M. Davis, former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Kenneth L. Maddy, state senator from Fresno and Senate minority leader True R. Slocum Jr. Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General of California Pete Wilson, mayor of San Diego Results Republican primary resultsStatement of Vote and Supplement Primary Election June 6, 1978 California Secretary of State Sacramento, California 1-2 https://archive.org/details/statementofvote197879cali/page/n13/mode/2up?view=theater 21 July 2024 Republican Party (United States) Evelle J. Younger 1,008,087 40.04% Republican Party (United States) Ed Davis 738,087 29.34% Republican Party (United States) Ken Maddy 484,583 19.25% Republican Party (United States) Pete Wilson 230,146 9.14% Republican Party (United States) John V. Briggs 35,147 1.40% Republican Party (United States) True R. Slocum Jr. 11,824 0.47% Republican Party (United States) Elmer L. Crutchley 8,951 0.36% Republican Party (United States) Scattering 1 0.00% 2,517,480 100.00% Other primaries American Independent Party American Independent primary results Theresa F. Dietrich American Independent Party 12,278 57.40% Laszlo Kecskemethy American Independent Party 9,112 42.60% 21,390 100.00% Peace and Freedom Party Peace and Freedom primary results Peace and Freedom Party Marilyn Seals 6,278 100.00% 6,278 100.00% General election Candidates Jerry Brown, incumbent governor since 1975 (Democratic) Ed Clark, former chair of the Libertarian Party of California and Libertarian Party of New York (Independent) Theresa F. Dietrich (American Independent) Marilyn Seals (Peace and Freedom) Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General of California (Republican) The primary battle left Younger short of money, while Brown had a much larger campaign fund and won reelection in a landslide. Results 1978 California gubernatorial electionStatement of Vote and Supplement General Election, November 7, 1978 California Secretary of State Sacramento, California 1 https://archive.org/details/statementofvote197879cali/page/n249/mode/2up?view=theater 21 July 2024 California Democratic Party Edmund G. Brown Jr. (Incumbent) 3,878,812 56.03% +5.91% California Republican Party Evelle J. Younger 2,526,534 36.50% -10.76% Independent Ed Clark 377,960 5.46% Peace and Freedom Party (United States) Marilyn Seals 70,864 1.02% -0.18% American Independent Party Theresa F. Dietrich 67,103 0.97% -0.37% Scattering 1,105 0.02% 1,352,278 19.53% 6,922,378 100.00% California Democratic Party +16.67% Results by county County Edmund G. Brown Jr.Democratic Evelle J. YoungerRepublican Ed ClarkIndependent Marilyn SealsPeace & Freedom Theresa F. DietrichAmerican Independent Margin Total votes castCounty totals do not include the write-in votes, which are only given as statewide totals in the Statement of Vote. # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda217,74663.81%88,61925.97%24,3367.13%7,3752.16%3,1410.92%129,12737.84%341,217Alpine20252.74%15139.43%184.70%51.31%71.83%5113.32%383Amador4,14449.65%3,53442.34%4775.71%560.67%1361.63%6107.31%8,347Butte26,05149.65%22,14242.20%3,0385.79%6091.16%6341.21%3,9097.45%52,474Calaveras4,01948.74%3,69144.76%3774.57%730.89%861.04%3283.98%8,246Colusa1,95845.01%2,00546.09%3147.22%370.85%360.83%-47-1.08%4,350Contra Costa122,56554.27%80,82135.79%17,9897.97%2,2080.98%2,2501.00%41,74418.48%225,833Del Norte2,45141.73%2,93349.93%1883.20%771.31%2253.83%-482-8.21%5,874El Dorado13,83248.35%12,18742.60%1,8196.36%3051.07%4661.63%1,6455.75%28,609Fresno71,65755.67%50,95039.58%3,6532.84%1,1350.88%1,3241.03%20,70716.09%128,719Glenn3,12042.98%3,52148.51%4446.12%570.79%1171.61%-401-5.52%7,259Humboldt21,24350.37%16,65839.49%2,7836.60%7131.69%7811.85%4,58510.87%42,178Imperial8,38546.05%8,62947.39%8704.78%1570.86%1670.92%-244-1.34%18,208Inyo2,54039.53%3,56155.42%2183.39%470.73%590.92%-1,021-15.89%6,425Kern49,14447.71%41,53140.32%10,56010.25%6820.66%1,0781.05%7,6137.39%102,995Kings8,79453.84%6,94042.49%2811.72%1050.64%2151.32%1,85411.35%16,335Lake6,67052.87%5,01239.72%6515.16%1321.05%1521.20%1,65813.14%12,617Lassen3,37750.34%2,84942.47%3244.83%570.85%1021.52%5287.87%6,709Los Angeles1,178,36857.34%744,49136.23%93,6924.56%20,2050.98%18,2560.89%433,87721.11%2,055,012Madera7,52952.17%6,23043.16%4142.87%1100.76%1501.04%1,2999.00%14,433Marin49,75955.75%29,88833.49%7,6838.61%1,2271.37%6980.78%19,87122.26%89,255Mariposa2,36153.02%1,77439.84%2124.76%310.70%751.68%58713.18%4,453Mendocino11,87754.14%7,91636.09%1,4426.57%3771.72%3251.48%3,96118.06%21,937Merced16,82555.62%12,16540.21%7562.50%2020.67%3031.00%4,66015.40%30,251Modoc1,23540.28%1,61652.71%1374.47%270.88%511.66%-381-12.43%3,066Mono1,04244.82%1,16450.06%763.27%180.77%251.08%-122-5.25%2,325Monterey34,64952.35%27,18041.07%3,2784.95%5500.83%5300.80%7,46911.28%66,187Napa19,20250.53%15,62141.11%2,4616.48%3730.98%3440.91%3,5819.42%38,001Nevada9,01645.36%8,36542.09%2,23611.25%1230.62%1360.68%6513.28%19,876Orange299,57748.68%272,07644.21%34,9035.67%3,8450.62%4,9760.81%27,5014.47%615,377Placer20,38451.12%15,56339.03%3,3428.38%2680.67%3210.80%4,82112.09%39,878Plumas3,59955.48%2,54139.17%2083.21%370.57%1021.57%1,05816.31%6,487Riverside101,37754.23%75,56440.42%6,9823.74%1,2350.66%1,7720.95%25,81313.81%186.930Sacramento139,82154.91%88,44534.74%21,1378.30%2,8621.12%2,3490.92%51,37620.18%254,614San Benito2,80549.23%2,41142.31%3496.12%711.25%621.09%3946.91%5,698San Bernardino115,08254.01%86,63840.66%7,1513.36%1,4020.66%2,8221.32%28,44413.35%213,095San Diego316,22357.49%197,16735.85%25,9644.72%3,7080.67%6,9451.26%119,05621.65%550,007San Francisco156,60169.46%51,42922.81%11,5775.13%4,4001.95%1,4580.65%105,17246.65%225,465San Joaquin49,16952.17%39,42541.84%4,0634.31%5360.57%1,0461.11%9,74410.34%94,239San Luis Obispo25,69551.20%21,68943.22%1,7723.53%5521.10%4780.95%4,0067.98%50,186San Mateo113,40256.18%69,13134.25%15,0727.47%2,5651.27%1,6780.83%44,27121.93%201,848Santa Barbara59,93356.68%38,65636.56%4,7634.50%1,5211.44%8580.81%21,27720.12%105,731Santa Clara227,49361.35%110,44429.79%25,5506.89%3,7841.02%3,5120.95%117,04931.57%370,783Santa Cruz40,49060.85%20,69831.11%3,4705.21%1,3762.07%5060.76%19,79229.74%66,540Shasta19,43255.26%12,69836.11%2,2566.42%2760.78%5011.42%6,73419.15%35,163Sierra72549.45%64443.93%714.84%110.75%151.02%815.53%1,466Siskiyou6,85151.11%5,74742.88%4973.71%1130.84%1961.46%1,1048.24%13,404Solano34,51358.05%20,17633.94%3,6706.17%5350.90%5580.94%14,33724.12%59,452Sonoma56,92054.29%37,58435.85%7,5067.16%1,8551.77%9810.94%19,33618.44%104,846Stanislaus36,67655.62%25,24738.29%2,5393.85%6781.03%8031.22%11,42917.33%65,943Sutter6,35744.09%6,87147.65%1,0036.96%770.53%1110.77%-514-3.56%14,419Tehama5,98650.25%5,00241.99%6355.33%810.68%2081.75%9848.26%11,912Trinity2,21550.39%1,76940.24%2986.78%441.00%701.59%44610.15%4,396Tulare24,98946.80%26,13648.95%1,3222.48%3150.59%6341.19%-1,147-2.15%53,396Tuolumne6,77251.09%5,75743.44%4783.61%1030.78%1441.09%1,0157.66%13,254Ventura75,17352.78%57,77740.57%6,9164.86%8540.60%1,7031.20%17,39612.21%142,423Yolo24,35759.39%12,70330.97%3,0647.47%5931.45%2980.73%11,65428.41%41,015Yuba6,43454.84%4,40237.52%6755.75%940.80%1271.08%2,03217.32%11,732Total3,878,81256.03%2,526,53436.50%377,9605.46%70,8641.02%67,1030.97%1,352,27819.53%6,922,378 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Contra Costa El Dorado Kern Lake Marin Mariposa Monterey Napa Nevada Orange Riverside San Benito San Diego San Joaquin San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Stanislaus Tuolumne Ventura Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Del Norte Imperial Analysis 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 1861Mono County was carried by the Southern Democratic candidate in 1861 and an Independent candidate in 1875. 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. Notes References 1978 Category:1978 United States gubernatorial elections Gubernatorial Category:November 1978 in the United States 1978