The 1922 California gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1922. California State Treasurer Friend Richardson defeated incumbent governor William Stephens in the Republican primary while Los Angeles County District Attorney Thomas L. Woolwine defeated Mattison B. Jones in the Democratic primary.[1] Richardson would defeat Woolwine in the general election and would roll back many of the Progressive reforms made by Stephens and his predecessor, Hiram Johnson.[2] Richardson's 59.69% vote share was the largest ever achieved by a gubernatorial candidate in California to that point, though that record would be broken in the next election.
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 County results Richardson: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Woolwine: 40-50% 50-60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Primaries
editRepublican primary
editIncumbent Republican governor William Stephens, who had succeeded Hiram Johnson upon his resignation in 1917 and then was elected to a term of his own in 1918, sought a second term as governor. By that time, Republicans had grown more conservative than the years prior, pushing against Progressives like Stephens.[3] California State Treasurer Friend Richardson, previously a Progressive in 1914, campaigned on a conservative platform and utilizing a fatigue on Progressive politics in the state. In the Republican primary, Stephens lost to Richardson by 25,000 votes.[4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Friend William Richardson | 286,442 | 52.27% | |
| Republican | William D. Stephens (incumbent) | 261,521 | 47.73% | |
| Total votes | 547,963 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic primary
editLos Angeles County District Attorney Thomas L. Woolwine and attorney Mattison B. Jones ran in the Democratic ticket.[6] Woolwine defeated Jones in the primary.[7]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Thomas Lee Woolwine | 75,868 | 60.40% | |
| Democratic | Mattison B. Jones | 45,631 | 36.11% | |
| Democratic | Friend William Richardson (write-in) | 2,313 | 1.84% | |
| Democratic | William D. Stephens (write-in) | 2,061 | 1.64% | |
| Total votes | 125,603 | 100.00% | ||
Prohibition primary
editGovernor Stephens and Jones cross-filed in the Prohibition primary, but due to Stephens not winning the Republican primary, the Prohibition Party was unable to run a candidate in the race.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prohibition | William D. Stephens | 5,632 | 66.38% | |
| Prohibition | Mattison B. Jones | 2,289 | 26.98% | |
| Prohibition | Friend William Richardson (write-in) | 563 | 6.64% | |
| Total votes | 8,484 | 100.00% | ||
Socialist primary
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist | Alexander Horr | 6,719 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 6,719 | 100.00% | ||
General election results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Friend William Richardson | 576,445 | 59.69% | +3.41% | |
| Democratic | Thomas Lee Woolwine | 347,530 | 35.98% | +35.98% | |
| Socialist | Alexander Horr | 41,418 | 4.29% | +0.08% | |
| Scattering | 394 | 0.04% | |||
| Majority | 228,915 | 23.70% | |||
| Total votes | 965,787 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | +3.90% | |||
Results by county
edit| County | Friend William Richardson Republican |
Thomas Lee Woolwine Democratic |
Alexander Horr Socialist |
Scattering Write-in |
Margin | Total votes cast[8] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 60,130 | 61.38% | 33,250 | 33.94% | 4,584 | 4.68% | 0 | 0.00% | 26,880 | 27.44% | 97,964 |
| Alpine | 45 | 77.59% | 12 | 20.69% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 1.72% | 33 | 56.90% | 58 |
| Amador | 1,111 | 49.80% | 1,082 | 48.50% | 37 | 1.66% | 1 | 0.04% | 29 | 1.30% | 2,231 |
| Butte | 5,493 | 56.52% | 3,922 | 40.36% | 303 | 3.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,571 | 16.17% | 9,718 |
| Calaveras | 1,325 | 56.89% | 908 | 38.99% | 94 | 4.04% | 2 | 0.09% | 417 | 17.90% | 2,329 |
| Colusa | 1,723 | 53.29% | 1,469 | 45.44% | 41 | 1.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 254 | 7.86% | 3,233 |
| Contra Costa | 8,860 | 54.22% | 6,620 | 40.51% | 862 | 5.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,240 | 13.71% | 16,342 |
| Del Norte | 653 | 65.63% | 291 | 29.25% | 51 | 5.13% | 0 | 0.00% | 362 | 36.38% | 995 |
| El Dorado | 1,308 | 46.01% | 1,438 | 50.58% | 97 | 3.41% | 0 | 0.00% | -130 | -4.57% | 2,843 |
| Fresno | 19,354 | 60.37% | 11,164 | 34.82% | 1,540 | 4.80% | 0 | 0.00% | 8,190 | 25.55% | 32,058 |
| Glenn | 2,659 | 66.88% | 1,257 | 31.61% | 59 | 1.48% | 1 | 0.03% | 1,402 | 35.26% | 3,976 |
| Humboldt | 7,984 | 73.91% | 2,345 | 21.71% | 474 | 4.39% | 0 | 0.00% | 5,639 | 52.20% | 10,803 |
| Imperial | 4,376 | 63.17% | 2,328 | 33.61% | 223 | 3.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,048 | 29.57% | 6,927 |
| Inyo | 1,678 | 66.27% | 692 | 27.33% | 160 | 6.32% | 2 | 0.08% | 986 | 38.94% | 2,532 |
| Kern | 9,706 | 53.90% | 6,970 | 38.71% | 1,325 | 7.36% | 7 | 0.04% | 2,736 | 15.19% | 18,008 |
| Kings | 3,550 | 58.65% | 2,304 | 38.06% | 199 | 3.29% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,246 | 20.58% | 6,053 |
| Lake | 951 | 57.29% | 669 | 40.30% | 40 | 2.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 282 | 16.99% | 1,660 |
| Lassen | 1,138 | 50.87% | 1,026 | 45.86% | 73 | 3.26% | 0 | 0.00% | 112 | 5.01% | 2,237 |
| Los Angeles | 169,563 | 66.06% | 74,892 | 29.18% | 12,072 | 4.70% | 146 | 0.06% | 94,671 | 36.88% | 256,673 |
| Madera | 2,031 | 53.62% | 1,575 | 41.58% | 181 | 4.78% | 1 | 0.03% | 456 | 12.04% | 3,788 |
| Marin | 5,211 | 56.49% | 3,738 | 40.52% | 276 | 2.99% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,473 | 15.97% | 9,225 |
| Mariposa | 456 | 45.92% | 496 | 49.95% | 41 | 4.13% | 0 | 0.00% | -40 | -4.03% | 993 |
| Mendocino | 3,531 | 57.59% | 2,380 | 38.82% | 220 | 3.59% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,151 | 18.77% | 6,131 |
| Merced | 3,550 | 57.89% | 2,311 | 37.69% | 268 | 4.37% | 3 | 0.05% | 1,239 | 20.21% | 6,132 |
| Modoc | 1,110 | 59.90% | 696 | 37.56% | 47 | 2.54% | 0 | 0.00% | 414 | 22.34% | 1,853 |
| Mono | 221 | 67.38% | 86 | 26.22% | 21 | 6.40% | 0 | 0.00% | 135 | 41.16% | 328 |
| Monterey | 4,145 | 57.90% | 2,826 | 39.47% | 188 | 2.63% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,319 | 18.42% | 7,159 |
| Napa | 3,541 | 49.64% | 3,401 | 47.67% | 182 | 2.55% | 10 | 0.14% | 140 | 1.96% | 7,134 |
| Nevada | 1,959 | 54.33% | 1,478 | 40.99% | 169 | 4.69% | 0 | 0.00% | 481 | 13.34% | 3,606 |
| Orange | 15,137 | 75.01% | 4,351 | 21.56% | 684 | 3.39% | 8 | 0.04% | 10,786 | 53.45% | 20,180 |
| Placer | 2,817 | 49.01% | 2,702 | 47.01% | 229 | 3.98% | 0 | 0.00% | 115 | 2.00% | 5,748 |
| Plumas | 580 | 46.14% | 559 | 44.47% | 118 | 9.39% | 0 | 0.00% | 21 | 1.67% | 1,257 |
| Riverside | 10,351 | 75.86% | 2,921 | 21.41% | 371 | 2.72% | 2 | 0.01% | 7,430 | 54.45% | 13,645 |
| Sacramento | 14,530 | 49.98% | 13,474 | 46.35% | 1,033 | 3.55% | 35 | 0.12% | 1,056 | 3.63% | 29,072 |
| San Benito | 1,782 | 58.99% | 1,165 | 38.56% | 74 | 2.45% | 0 | 0.00% | 617 | 20.42% | 3,021 |
| San Bernardino | 13,699 | 66.14% | 5,566 | 26.87% | 1,448 | 6.99% | 0 | 0.00% | 8,133 | 39.27% | 20,713 |
| San Diego | 22,792 | 69.29% | 8,271 | 25.14% | 1,823 | 5.54% | 8 | 0.02% | 14,521 | 44.14% | 32,894 |
| San Francisco | 56,302 | 42.58% | 70,464 | 53.29% | 5,336 | 4.04% | 123 | 0.09% | -14,162 | -10.71% | 132,225 |
| San Joaquin | 12,567 | 60.23% | 7,539 | 36.13% | 758 | 3.63% | 0 | 0.00% | 5,028 | 24.10% | 20,864 |
| San Luis Obispo | 4,344 | 62.60% | 2,185 | 31.49% | 400 | 5.76% | 10 | 0.14% | 2,159 | 31.11% | 6,939 |
| San Mateo | 6,227 | 50.20% | 5,658 | 45.61% | 508 | 4.10% | 11 | 0.09% | 569 | 4.59% | 12,404 |
| Santa Barbara | 6,754 | 68.06% | 2,873 | 28.95% | 295 | 2.97% | 1 | 0.01% | 3,881 | 39.11% | 9,923 |
| Santa Clara | 17,977 | 63.64% | 9,484 | 33.57% | 787 | 2.79% | 0 | 0.00% | 8,493 | 30.07% | 28,248 |
| Santa Cruz | 5,789 | 66.56% | 2,591 | 29.79% | 318 | 3.66% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,198 | 36.77% | 8,698 |
| Shasta | 2,659 | 51.77% | 2,272 | 44.24% | 205 | 3.99% | 0 | 0.00% | 387 | 7.54% | 5,136 |
| Sierra | 320 | 54.05% | 251 | 42.40% | 20 | 3.38% | 1 | 0.17% | 69 | 11.66% | 592 |
| Siskiyou | 2,922 | 50.84% | 2,487 | 43.27% | 338 | 5.88% | 0 | 0.00% | 435 | 7.57% | 5,747 |
| Solano | 5,168 | 47.51% | 5,343 | 49.12% | 366 | 3.36% | 0 | 0.00% | -175 | -1.61% | 10,877 |
| Sonoma | 9,004 | 55.45% | 6,748 | 41.55% | 487 | 3.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,256 | 13.89% | 16,239 |
| Stanislaus | 8,997 | 67.18% | 3,831 | 28.61% | 547 | 4.08% | 17 | 0.13% | 5,166 | 38.58% | 13,392 |
| Sutter | 1,728 | 59.88% | 1,107 | 38.36% | 51 | 1.77% | 0 | 0.00% | 621 | 21.52% | 2,886 |
| Tehama | 2,528 | 64.08% | 1,264 | 32.04% | 153 | 3.88% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,264 | 32.04% | 3,945 |
| Trinity | 597 | 56.80% | 377 | 35.87% | 77 | 7.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 220 | 20.93% | 1,051 |
| Tulare | 11,978 | 69.62% | 4,640 | 26.97% | 586 | 3.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 7,338 | 42.65% | 17,204 |
| Tuolumne | 1,709 | 51.06% | 1,445 | 43.17% | 191 | 5.71% | 2 | 0.06% | 264 | 7.89% | 3,347 |
| Ventura | 5,145 | 66.24% | 2,377 | 30.60% | 243 | 3.13% | 2 | 0.03% | 2,768 | 35.64% | 7,767 |
| Yolo | 2,964 | 54.59% | 2,375 | 43.74% | 91 | 1.68% | 0 | 0.00% | 589 | 10.85% | 5,430 |
| Yuba | 1,716 | 51.16% | 1,584 | 47.23% | 54 | 1.61% | 0 | 0.00% | 132 | 3.94% | 3,354 |
| Total | 576,445 | 59.69% | 347,530 | 35.98% | 41,418 | 4.29% | 394 | 0.04% | 228,915 | 23.70% | 965,787 |
Counties that flipped from Independent to Republican
editCounties that flipped from Independent to Democratic
editCounties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
editReferences
edit- ^ "JOHNSON AND RICHARDSON LEADING IN COUNT: CONTESTS FOR SENATOR AND FOR GOVERNOR ARE CLOSE Lineberger Decisively Defeats Randall for Congress; Young Ahead for Lieutenant-Governor; Lawlor Beats Wilbur; Traeger is Victor RACE IS CLOSE FOR SENATOR". Los Angeles Times. August 30, 1922. ProQuest 161175068.
- ^ "FINAL VOTE COUNT SHOWSLARGELEAD GIVEN RICHARDSON". The Sacramento Union. December 16, 1922.
- ^ "ELECTION RESULTS". Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1922. ProQuest 161172604.
- ^ "RICHARDSON IS NOMINATED!: Stephens Loses Race by 15,000; Johnson is Safe RICHARDSON'S LEAD 15,000 Meet Our Next Governor". Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1922. ProQuest 161169670.
- ^ a b c d California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at Primary Election held on August 29, 1922 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
- ^ "ANGELENO WILL SEEK HIGH POST: Mattison B. Jones Named by Democrats as Candidate for Governorship". Los Angeles Times. July 6, 1922. ProQuest 161135376.
- ^ Apostol, Jane (Winter 2005–2006). "District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine: Stormy Petrel of Politics". Southern California Quarterly. 87 (4). University of California Press: 377–396. doi:10.2307/41172284. JSTOR 41172284.
- ^ a b California Secretary of State. Statement of Vote at General Election held on November 7, 1922 in the State of California. Sacramento, California: State Printing Office. p. 12. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
