California gubernatorial election, 1966
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Election results by county Reagan: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Brown: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in California | ||||||||||
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The California gubernatorial election, 1966 was held on November 8, 1966. The election was a contest between incumbent Governor Pat Brown, the Democratic candidate, and actor Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate. Reagan mobilized conservative voters and defeated Brown.
Primary results
Democratic
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Pat Brown (inc.) | 1,355,262 | 51.91 | |
Democratic | Sam Yorty | 981,088 | 37.58 | |
Democratic | Carlton Benjamin Goodlett | 95,476 | 3.66 | |
Democratic | Wallace J. Duffy | 77,029 | 2.95 | |
Democratic | Dale Alexander | 43,453 | 1.66 | |
Democratic | Ronald Reagan (write-in) | 27,422 | 1.05 | |
Democratic | Ingram W. Goad | 18,088 | 0.69 | |
Total votes | 2,597,818 | 100 |
Republican
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 1,417,623 | 64.62 | |
Republican | George Christopher | 675,683 | 30.80 | |
Republican | Warren N. Dorn | 44,812 | 2.04 | |
Republican | William Penn Patrick | 40,887 | 1.86 | |
Republican | Joseph R. Maxwell | 7,052 | 0.32 | |
Republican | Sam Yorty (write-in) | 5,993 | 0.27 | |
Republican | Pat Brown (inc.) (write-in) | 1,700 | 0.08 | |
Total votes | 2,193,750 | 100 |
Election background
Incumbent Edmund G. (Pat) Brown had been a relatively popular Democrat in what was, at the time, a Republican leaning state. After his re-election victory over former Vice President Richard Nixon in 1962, Brown was strongly considered for Lyndon Johnson's 1964 ticket, a spot that eventually went to Hubert Humphrey. However, Brown's popularity began to sag amidst the civil disorders of the Watts riots and the early anti-Vietnam War demonstrations at U.C. Berkeley. His decision to seek a 3rd term as governor (after promising earlier that he would not do so) also hurt his popularity. His diminishing support was evidenced by a tough battle in the Democratic primary – normally not a concern for an incumbent. Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty received 38% of the primary vote while Brown barely received 52%, a very low number for an incumbent in a primary election.
The Republicans seized upon Brown's sudden unpopularity by nominating a well known and charismatic political outsider – actor Ronald Reagan. With Richard Nixon working tirelessly behind the scenes and Reagan trumpeting his law and order campaign message, Reagan received almost 2/3 of the primary vote over George Christopher, the moderate Republican former mayor of San Francisco, and went into the general election with a great deal of momentum. At first Brown ran a low key campaign, declaring that running the state was his biggest priority. As Reagan's lead in the polls increased, however, Brown began to panic and made a gaffe when he told a group of school children that an actor, John Wilkes Booth, had killed Abraham Lincoln.[3] The comparison of Reagan to Booth as being actors did not go over well and led to a further decline of the Brown campaign. Come election day, Reagan was ahead in the polls and favored to win a relatively close election. However, Reagan won decisively; his nearly 1 million vote plurality surprised even his strongest supporters. Brown won in only three counties: Alameda, Plumas, and San Francisco. He narrowly won Alameda by about 2,000 votes (.5%) and Plumas by about 100 votes (1.6%).
General election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 3,742,913 | 57.55 | |||
Democratic | Pat Brown (incumbent) | 2,749,174 | 42.27 | |||
Other | Various candidates | 11,358 | 0.18 | |||
Total votes | 6,503,445 | 100.00 | ||||
Turnout | 57.70 | |||||
Republican gain from Democratic | ||||||
Results by county
County | Reagan | Votes | Brown | Votes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mono | 77.84% | 1,205 | 22.16% | 343 |
Orange | 72.15% | 293,413 | 27.85% | 113,275 |
Sutter | 70.43% | 9,828 | 29.57% | 4,126 |
Calaveras | 67.77% | 3,810 | 32.23% | 1,812 |
Butte | 67.48% | 25,443 | 32.52% | 12,263 |
Glenn | 66.35% | 4,676 | 33.65% | 2,371 |
Inyo | 66.19% | 3,961 | 33.81% | 2,023 |
Nevada | 65.85% | 7,373 | 34.15% | 3,823 |
Alpine | 65.78% | 148 | 34.22% | 77 |
Del Norte | 63.99% | 3,409 | 36.01% | 1,918 |
San Diego | 63.82% | 252,070 | 36.18% | 142,890 |
Santa Barbara | 63.54% | 50,284 | 36.46% | 28,853 |
Lake | 63.09% | 5,499 | 36.91% | 3,217 |
El Dorado | 63.08% | 9,189 | 36.92% | 5,378 |
Tehama | 63.01% | 6,629 | 36.99% | 3,891 |
Imperial | 62.87% | 12,372 | 37.13% | 7,307 |
Riverside | 62.77% | 84,501 | 37.23% | 50,112 |
Modoc | 62.73% | 1,946 | 37.27% | 1,156 |
Kern | 62.67% | 64,716 | 37.33% | 38,543 |
San Luis Obispo | 62.55% | 21,528 | 37.45% | 12,891 |
Trinity | 62.27% | 2,050 | 37.73% | 1,242 |
San Bernardino | 62.19% | 121,916 | 37.81% | 74,120 |
Colusa | 62.09% | 2,806 | 37.91% | 1,713 |
Mariposa | 61.51% | 1,811 | 38.49% | 1,133 |
Santa Cruz | 61.47% | 26,988 | 38.53% | 16,913 |
Monterey | 61.06% | 35,944 | 38.94% | 22,923 |
San Benito | 60.96% | 3,565 | 39.04% | 2,283 |
Ventura | 60.94% | 58,068 | 39.06% | 37,224 |
San Joaquin | 60.77% | 54,647 | 39.23% | 35,281 |
Sonoma | 60.68% | 41,516 | 39.32% | 26,898 |
Yuba | 60.52% | 6,658 | 39.48% | 4,344 |
Tulare | 59.95% | 33,095 | 40.05% | 22,109 |
Mendocino | 59.81% | 10,161 | 40.19% | 6,827 |
Napa | 59.53% | 17,740 | 40.47% | 12,060 |
Amador | 58.33% | 2,985 | 41.67% | 2,132 |
Tuolumne | 58.21% | 4,845 | 41.79% | 3,479 |
Los Angeles | 57.26% | 1,389,995 | 42.74% | 1,037,663 |
Marin | 57.21% | 40,411 | 42.79% | 30,230 |
Humboldt | 57.20% | 19,210 | 42.80% | 14,374 |
Kings | 55.79% | 9,957 | 44.21% | 7,890 |
Santa Clara | 55.40% | 164,970 | 44.60% | 132,793 |
Sierra | 55.27% | 650 | 44.73% | 526 |
Contra Costa | 55.13% | 107,543 | 44.87% | 87,525 |
Shasta | 54.83% | 15,155 | 45.17% | 12,486 |
Placer | 54.61% | 14,664 | 45.39% | 12,187 |
Stanislaus | 54.37% | 31,473 | 45.63% | 26,418 |
Siskiyou | 54.21% | 7,057 | 45.79% | 5,962 |
Madera | 54.18% | 7,490 | 45.82% | 6,335 |
Fresno | 53.96% | 70,182 | 46.04% | 59,869 |
Lassen | 53.95% | 3,190 | 46.05% | 2,723 |
San Mateo | 53.71% | 107,498 | 46.29% | 92,654 |
Merced | 53.01% | 14,103 | 46.99% | 12,499 |
Sacramento | 50.91% | 109,801 | 49.09% | 105,861 |
Solano | 50.15% | 23,187 | 49.85% | 23,047 |
Yolo | 50.08% | 13,073 | 49.92% | 13,032 |
Alameda | 49.75% | 189,055 | 50.25% | 190,968 |
Plumas | 49.18% | 2,658 | 50.82% | 2,747 |
San Francisco | 41.11% | 114,796 | 58.89% | 164,435 |
References
- ↑ "Our Campaigns - CA Governor - D Primary Race - Jun 07, 1966". Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ↑ "Our Campaigns - CA Governor - R Primary Race - Jun 07, 1966". Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ↑ Reagan, Michael; Denney, Jim (2010), The New Reagan Revolution: How Ronald Reagan's Principles Can Restore America's Greatness, p. 111, ISBN 978-0-312-64454-3
- ↑ Anderson, Totton J.; Lee, Eugene C. (June 1967). "The 1966 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 20 (2): 535–554. doi:10.2307/446081. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ↑ Archived September 12, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.