1938 California gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1938 California gubernatorial election California presidential Flag of California (1911–1953).svgborder no 1934 California gubernatorial election 1934 1942 California gubernatorial election 1942 November 8, 1938 Culbert L. Olson at a convention for the California Federation of Democratic Women's Clubs (cropped).jpg 150x150px Culbert Olson California Democratic Party 1,391,734 52.49% Frank Merriam, portrait photo (cropped).jpg Frank Merriam California Republican Party 1,171,019 44.17% 1938 California gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 300px County resultsOlson: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60%Merriam: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d72f30 70–80% Governor Frank Merriam Culbert Olson California Republican Party California Democratic Party The 1938 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938. Culbert L. Olson defeated incumbent governor Frank F. Merriam to become the first Democrat elected Governor of California since James Budd in 1894. Merriam had angered the left and the right throughout his tenure as governor, leading a significant swing in favor of the Democratic party. Olson was the first Democrat since George Stoneman in 1882 to receive an absolute majority of the vote. For the first time since 1882, Alameda County, Los Angeles County, and Ventura County were carried by a Democrat and San Diego County backed a Democrat for governor for the first time since 1879. California would not elect a Democrat as governor again until 1958. This was the last time until Gray Davis in 1998 that a Democrat who was not a member of the Brown family won the governorship. Republican primary Candidates George J. Hatfield, lieutenant governor Z. S. Leymel, former mayor of Fresno Frank F. Merriam, incumbent governor Francis Michael O'Connor Results Republican primary resultsStatement of Vote at Primary Election Held on August 30, 1938 in the State of California California Secretary of State State Printing Office Sacramento, California 5–7 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31158006563711&seq=7 20 July 2024 Frank F. Merriam (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 405,362 54.85% George J. Hatfield Republican Party (United States) 169,278 22.91% Raymond L. Haight Republican Party (United States) 124,102 16.79% Francis Michael O'Connor Republican Party (United States) 18,642 2.52% John F. Dockweiler (write-in) Republican Party (United States) 8,966 1.21% Z. S. Leymel Republican Party (United States) 8,184 1.11% Culbert L. Olson (write-in) Republican Party (United States) 4,469 0.60% 739,003 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates John F. Dockweiler, U.S. Representative from Los Angeles Herbert C. Legg, Los Angeles County Supervisor Daniel C. Murphy William H. Neblett J. F. T. O'Connor, United States Comptroller of the Currency Culbert Olson, State Senator from Los Angeles Teodoro Antonio Tomasini Results Democratic primary results Culbert L. Olson Democratic Party (United States) 483,483 41.97% John F. Dockweiler Democratic Party (United States) 218,342 18.96% Daniel C. Murphy Democratic Party (United States) 137,740 11.96% Raymond L. Haight Democratic Party (United States) 125,012 10.85% Herbert C. Legg Democratic Party (United States) 80,586 7.00% J. F. T. O'Connor Democratic Party (United States) 71,999 6.25% William H. Neblett Democratic Party (United States) 21,219 1.84% Teodoro Antonio Tomasini Democratic Party (United States) 10,142 0.88% Frank F. Merriam (write-in) Democratic Party (United States) 3,340 0.29% 1,151,863 100.00% Townsend Party primary Results Townsend primary results Frank F. Merriam (write-in)Was not listed under Townsend in the general election Townsend Party #DFBB8C 5,350 64.82% John F. Dockweiler (write-in) Townsend Party #DFBB8C 1,471 17.82% Culbert L. Olson (write-in) Townsend Party #DFBB8C 1,432 17.35% 8,253 100.00% Progressive primary Candidates Raymond L. Haight, Los Angeles attorney William E. Riker, white supremacist preacher Progressive primary results Raymond L. Haight California Progressive Party 4,569 57.76% Culbert L. Olson California Progressive Party 3,271 40.09% William E. Riker California Progressive Party 170 2.15% 7,910 100.00% Commonwealth primary Candidates Robert Noble Results Commonwealth primary results Robert Noble Commonwealth #BDB76B 274 100.00% 274 100.00% General election Candidates Raymond L. Haight, Los Angeles attorney (Progressive) Frank F. Merriam, incumbent governor since 1937 (Republican) Robert Noble (Commonwealth) Culbert Olson, State Senator from Los Angeles (Democratic) Results 1938 California gubernatorial electionStatement of Vote at General Election Held on November 8, 1938 in the State of California California Secretary of State State Printing Office Sacramento, California 4 https://archive.org/details/statementofvote192639cali/page/n849/mode/2up?view=theater 20 July 2024 Democratic Party (United States) Culbert L. Olson 1,391,734 52.49% +14.74% Republican Party (United States) Frank F. Merriam (incumbent) 1,171,019 44.17% -4.71% Progressive Party (United States, 1924-46) Raymond L. Haight 64,418 2.43% -10.56% Robert Noble Commonwealth #BDB76B 23,787 0.90% +0.90% Scattering 505 0.02% 220,715 8.32% 2,651,463 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) +19.45% Results by county County Culbert L. OlsonDemocratic Frank F. MerriamRepublican Raymond L. HaightProgressive Robert NobleCommonwealth ScatteringWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Alameda109,01049.48%106,69448.43%3,8251.74%7530.34%390.02%2,3161.05%220,321Alpine2918.95%11071.90%149.15%00.00%00.00%-81-52.94%153Amador1,80352.47%1,48643.25%1323.84%150.44%00.00%3179.23%3,436Butte8,40848.45%8,24947.53%5423.12%1550.89%00.00%1590.92%17,354Calaveras1,81846.44%1,86647.66%2075.29%240.61%00.00%-48-1.23%3,915Colusa1,76841.11%2,33954.38%1683.91%260.60%00.00%-571-13.28%4,301Contra Costa23,78256.82%17,09640.84%8351.99%1390.33%40.01%6,68615.97%41,856Del Norte1,09243.58%1,32552.87%732.91%160.64%00.00%-233-9.30%2,506El Dorado3,37557.23%2,07935.26%4026.82%410.70%00.00%1,29621.98%5,897Fresno32,93755.52%22,72838.31%3,3705.68%2940.50%00.00%10,20917.21%59,329Glenn2,06839.88%2,92456.39%1683.24%250.48%00.00%-856-16.51%5,185Humboldt8,79546.00%9,61750.30%5712.99%1370.72%00.00%-822-4.30%19,120Imperial5,49545.47%6,25951.79%2031.68%1291.07%00.00%-764-6.32%12,086Inyo1,18442.44%1,45652.19%1354.84%150.54%00.00%-272-9.75%2,790Kern25,39258.66%16,11637.23%1,3323.08%4481.03%10.00%9,27621.43%43,289Kings5,54553.35%4,39542.28%3593.45%920.89%30.03%1,15011.06%10,394Lake1,57137.72%2,43858.54%912.18%651.56%00.00%-867-20.82%4,165Lassen2,76448.53%2,62446.08%2584.53%490.86%00.00%1402.46%5,695Los Angeles612,49955.76%446,06940.61%24,9582.27%14,5521.32%3390.03%166,43015.15%1,098,417Madera4,14857.11%2,80538.62%2733.76%370.51%00.00%1,34318.49%7,263Marin8,34043.46%10,44554.42%3511.83%520.27%40.02%-2,105-10.97%19,192Mariposa1,36254.50%1,04341.74%592.36%351.40%00.00%31912.77%2,499Mendocino5,35545.92%5,89750.57%2862.45%1231.05%00.00%-542-4.65%11,661Merced8,30354.05%6,36741.45%5473.56%1400.91%40.03%1,93612.60%15,361Modoc1,47248.26%1,41646.43%1324.33%300.98%00.00%561.84%3,050Mono44547.39%44647.50%424.47%60.64%00.00%-1-0.11%939Monterey9,73644.82%11,43652.65%4281.97%1220.56%00.00%-1,700-7.83%21,722Napa4,78642.03%6,27555.10%2612.29%650.57%10.01%-1,489-13.08%11,388Nevada3,49443.84%4,05250.84%3794.76%450.56%00.00%-558-7.00%7,970Orange24,25743.27%29,77453.11%1,1662.08%8631.54%40.01%-5,517-9.84%56,064Placer6,65358.92%3,83433.96%7476.62%570.50%00.00%2,81924.97%11,291Plumas2,37356.25%1,60738.09%1984.69%410.97%00.00%76618.16%4,219Riverside17,02645.93%18,89550.97%7371.99%4091.10%20.01%-1,869-5.04%37,069Sacramento32,88554.07%25,83642.48%1,9213.16%1740.29%50.01%7,04911.59%60,821San Benito1,91042.25%2,46654.55%1242.74%210.46%00.00%-556-12.30%4,521San Bernardino30,69651.47%27,51546.14%1,0011.68%4090.69%130.02%3,1815.33%59,634San Diego54,55252.84%45,89144.45%1,7491.69%1,0391.01%20.00%8,6618.39%103,233San Francisco132,34653.36%111,04644.77%3,8431.55%7810.31%190.01%21,3008.59%248,035San Joaquin22,34050.34%20,99047.30%8952.02%1470.33%50.01%1,3503.04%44,377San Luis Obispo6,66045.91%7,04648.57%6084.19%1921.32%00.00%-386-2.66%14,506San Mateo20,72347.85%21,57949.82%8011.85%2000.46%80.02%-856-1.98%43,311Santa Barbara10,87041.81%14,32555.10%6892.65%1070.41%50.02%-3,455-13.29%25,996Santa Clara32,99446.70%36,19151.23%1,2171.72%2260.32%200.03%-3,197-4.53%70,648Santa Cruz8,96245.17%10,19851.40%5312.68%1500.76%00.00%-1,236-6.23%19,841Shasta4,99456.26%3,44538.81%3443.88%941.06%00.00%1,54917.45%8,877Sierra71949.72%56539.07%14910.30%130.90%00.00%15410.65%1,446Siskiyou5,88248.97%5,14642.84%7946.61%1901.58%00.00%7366.13%12,012Solano9,03750.92%8,05145.36%5863.30%740.42%00.00%9865.56%17,748Sonoma12,20742.25%15,58253.93%9573.31%1400.48%90.03%-3,375-11.68%28,895Stanislaus12,73047.34%12,33345.86%1,5985.94%2260.84%60.02%3971.48%26,893Sutter3,09343.97%3,69152.47%2243.18%270.38%00.00%-598-8.50%7,035Tehama2,74044.99%2,88247.32%4277.01%410.67%00.00%-142-2.33%6,090Trinity1,08153.36%80839.88%1075.28%301.48%00.00%27313.47%2,026Tulare16,16250.29%14,57145.34%1,1133.46%2830.88%80.02%1,5914.95%32,137Tuolumne2,67253.80%2,09142.10%1683.38%360.72%00.00%58111.70%4,967Ventura11,26449.31%10,64746.61%7893.45%1390.61%20.01%6172.70%22,841Yolo3,99743.28%4,86552.67%3523.81%220.24%00.00%-868-9.40%9,236Yuba3,13348.65%3,09748.09%1822.83%260.40%20.03%360.56%6,440Total1,391,73452.49%1,171,01944.17%64,4182.43%23,7870.90%5050.02%220,7158.32%2,651,463 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Alameda Amador Butte Kern Kings Los Angeles Mariposa Merced Modoc Placer Sacramento San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco San Joaquin Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Tulare Ventura Yuba Counties that flipped from Progressive to Democratic El Dorado Fresno Stanislaus Notes References California Politics California 1938 Gubernatorial Category:November 1938 in the United States