Wikipedia

1958 California gubernatorial election

The 1958 California gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 4. Incumbent governor Goodwin Knight initially ran for re-election to a third term, but eventually withdrew and ran for election to the Senate. Incumbent senator William Knowland switched places with Knight to run for governor, but was defeated in a landslide by Democratic Attorney General Pat Brown, who won the first of his two terms as governor of California.

1958 California gubernatorial election
← 1954 November 4, 1958 1962 →
 
Nominee Pat Brown William Knowland
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 3,140,076 2,110,911
Percentage 59.75% 40.16%
County results
Brown:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Knowland:      50–60%
Governor before election

Goodwin Knight
Republican

Elected Governor

Pat Brown
Democratic

Knowland's decision to run for governor came in spite of strong opposition from Knight, who had wanted to run for re-election rather than for the Senate. Knowland's use of heavy-handed tactics to force Knight from the race, along with labor mobilization against Proposition 18, was a major factor in the Democratic landslide in California in 1958.[1][2]

Primary elections

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Primary elections were held on June 3, 1958.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Democratic primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Edmund G. "Pat" Brown 1,890,622 82.62%
Republican William F. Knowland 313,385 13.69%
Democratic Donald Donaldson 84,449 3.69%
Total votes 2,288,456 100.00%

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Results

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Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William F. Knowland 1,290,106 77.48%
Democratic Edmund G. "Pat" Brown 374,879 22.52%
Total votes 1,664,985 100.00%

General election results

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California was considered a Republican stronghold in the post-World War II era, electing Republican governors Earl Warren and Goodwin Knight, as well as senators Richard Nixon, Knowland, and Thomas Kuchel. Knowland was a prestigious two-term Senator who had served as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader. His seat was considered safe going into the 1958 midterm elections, but he stunned everyone when he announced his intention to run for governor instead of re-election to the Senate. This was especially surprising because California had a relatively popular Republican governor in Goodwin Knight who was also expected to be re-elected. Knowland coerced Knight into a "backroom deal" in which Knowland and Knight would "trade places", with Knight running for Knowland's Senate seat. Knight really had no desire to be Senator and in later years lamented how Knowland "strongarmed" him into the switch. Knowland thought being governor would enhance his chances of challenging another Californian, Richard Nixon, for the 1960 Republican presidential nomination. For their part, the Democrats nominated popular state Attorney General Pat Brown, who was the only Democrat that held a statewide office in a Republican leaning state. As it turned out, the Knowland-Knight switch was not popular with California voters. Brown steadily gained in the polls and defeated Knowland for governor, and Knight lost to Congressman Clair Engle in the Senate race.

1958 California gubernatorial election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Edmund G. "Pat" Brown 3,140,076 59.75% +16.59%
Republican William F. Knowland 2,110,911 40.16% −16.67%
Independent William P. Gale (write-in) 2,301 0.04%
Independent L. A. Delaney (write-in) 505 0.01%
Independent Herbert Steiner (write-in) 239 0.00%
Scattering 1,745 0.03%
Majority 1,029,165 19.58%
Total votes 5,255,777 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing +33.26%

Results by county

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Brown's landslide victory ended many streaks of Republican dominance in various counties throughout the state. Brown was the first Democrat to ever win Imperial County and Riverside County in a gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, this was the first election since 1859 in which Humboldt County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1882 in which Marin County and San Mateo County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1902 in which Monterey County voted for a Democratic candidate; the first since 1906 in which Nevada County, San Benito County, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Cruz County, and Sutter County voted for a Democratic candidate; and the first since 1910 in which Calaveras County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Lake County, Mendocino County, Napa County, Sonoma County, Tehama County voted for a Democratic candidate. Brown also won the largest share for a Democrat in Alpine County since 1882 and in Orange County since the latter's establishment in 1889. Those two counties, along with Mono County and Santa Barbara County were the most historically reliably Republican counties that Brown failed to flip.[a]

Conversely, as of 2024, this election is also the last time that a Democrat has carried Glenn County, Inyo County, Sutter County, and Tulare County. Moreover, a Democratic candidate has only carried Butte County, Calaveras County, and Mariposa County in one election since 1958.[b]

County Edmund G. Brown
Democratic 		William F. Knowland
Republican 		William P. Gale
Write-in 		All Others[c]
Write-in 		Margin Total votes cast[4]
# % # % # % # % # %
Alameda 228,105 64.84% 123,372 35.07% 129 0.04% 197[d] 0.06% 104,733 29.77% 351,803
Alpine 77 43.50% 100 56.50% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -23 -12.99% 177
Amador 2,665 64.23% 1,483 35.74% 0 0.00% 1 0.02% 1,182 28.49% 4,149
Butte 16,886 55.23% 13,677 44.74% 10 0.03% 0 0.00% 3,209 10.50% 30,573
Calaveras 3,067 58.99% 2,088 40.16% 44 0.85% 0 0.00% 979 18.83% 5,199
Colusa 2,924 64.04% 1,642 35.96% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,282 28.08% 4,566
Contra Costa 95,128 65.14% 50,812 34.79% 0 0.00% 104 0.07% 44,316 30.34% 146,044
Del Norte 3,368 62.05% 2,060 37.95% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1,308 24.10% 5,428
El Dorado 5,720 66.43% 2,889 33.55% 0 0.00% 1[e] 0.01% 2,831 32.88% 8,610
Fresno 72,692 66.84% 35,747 32.87% 322 0.30% 0 0.00% 36,945 33.97% 108,761
Glenn 4,190 61.46% 2,625 38.51% 1 0.01% 1 0.01% 1,565 22.96% 6,817
Humboldt 21,013 62.12% 12,799 37.84% 0 0.00% 14[f] 0.04% 8,214 24.28% 33,826
Imperial 8,580 51.93% 7,943 48.07% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 637 3.86% 16,523
Inyo 2,780 53.92% 2,374 46.04% 0 0.00% 2 0.04% 406 7.87% 5,156
Kern 52,587 62.87% 30,889 36.93% 22 0.03% 140[g] 0.17 21,698 25.94% 83,638
Kings 9,227 68.33% 4,264 31.58% 5 0.04% 7 0.05% 4,963 36.75% 13,503
Lake 3,411 55.72% 2,711 44.28% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 700 11.43% 6,122
Lassen 3,553 69.68% 1,545 30.30% 1 0.02% 0 0.00% 2,008 39.38% 5,099
Los Angeles 1,254,226 57.91% 909,429 41.99% 1,120 0.05% 996[h] 0.05% 344,797 15.92% 2,165,771
Madera 8,133 68.95% 3,663 31.05% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 4,470 37.89% 11,796
Marin 29,096 55.98% 22,832 43.93% 21 0.04% 26 0.05% 6,264 12.05% 51,975
Mariposa 1,437 58.01% 1,040 41.99% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 397 16.03% 2,477
Mendocino 10,759 63.71% 6,116 36.22% 0 0.00% 13 0.08% 4,643 27.49% 16,888
Merced 15.430 67.79% 7,328 32.19% 0 0.00% 4 0.02% 8,102 35.59% 22,762
Modoc 2,010 62.77% 1,192 37.23% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 818 25.55% 3,202
Mono 461 44.41% 577 55.59% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% -116 -11.18% 1,038
Monterey 26,676 56.12% 20,853 43.87% 8 0.02% 0 0.00% 5,823 12.25% 47,537
Napa 14,544 60.95% 9,309 39.01% 0 0.00% 9 0.04% 5,235 21.94% 23,862
Nevada 5,035 58.20% 3,601 41.63% 0 0.00% 15 0.17% 1,434 16.58% 8,651
Orange 85,364 46.30% 98,729 53.55% 0 0.00% 259 0.14% -13,365 -7.25% 184,352
Placer 13,422 68.75% 6,093 31.21% 9 0.05% 0 0.00% 7,329 37.54% 19,524
Plumas 3,714 74.16% 1,277 25.50% 0 0.00% 17 0.34% 2,437 48.66% 5,088
Riverside 46,611 52.65% 41,824 47.24% 70 0.08% 24[i] 0.03% 4,787 5.41% 88,529
Sacramento 107,679 70.95% 44,027 29.01% 52 0.03% 0 0.00% 63,652 41.94% 151,758
San Benito 3,213 59.53% 2,182 40.43% 2 0.04% 0 0.00% 1,031 19.10% 5,397
San Bernardino 86,882 58.33% 61,891 41.55% 124 0.08% 48 0.03% 24,991 16.78% 148,945
San Diego 150,925 51.71% 140,734 48.22% 140 0.05% 73[j] 0.03% 10,191 3.49% 291,872
San Francisco 219,413 70.79% 90,430 29.17% 66 0.02% 60[k] 0.02% 128,983 41.61% 309,969
San Joaquin 48,284 62.58% 28,807 37.34% 33 0.04% 32 0.04% 19,477 25.24% 77,156
San Luis Obispo 15,315 56.78% 11,646 43.17% 0 0.00% 13 0.05% 3.669 13.60% 26,974
San Mateo 97,475 61.76% 60,215 38.15% 55 0.03% 83[l] 0.05% 37,260 23.61% 157,828
Santa Barbara 23,440 49.43% 23,849 50.50% 12 0.03% 21[m] 0.04% -509 -1.08% 47,222
Santa Clara 108,732 59.50% 73,874 40.42% 0 0.00% 142 0.08% 34,858 19.07% 182,748
Santa Cruz 17,635 51.58% 16,528 48.34% 0 0.00% 25[n] 0.07% 1,107 3.24% 34,188
Shasta 14,024 71.24% 5,645 28.68% 10 0.05% 6 0.03% 8,379 42.57% 19,685
Sierra 826 64.89% 447 35.11% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 379 29.77% 1,273
Siskiyou 8,747 67.34% 4,233 32.59% 10 0.08% 0 0.00% 4,514 34.75% 12,990
Solano 27,429 69.79% 11,847 30.14% 0 0.00% 27 0.07% 15,582 39.65% 39,303
Sonoma 30,841 57.04% 23,216 42.94% 0 0.00% 14 0.03% 7,625 14.10% 54,071
Stanislaus 31,984 62.50% 19,168 37.46% 0 0.00% 23 0.04% 12,816 25.04% 51,175
Sutter 5,032 50.10% 5,009 49.87% 3 0.03% 0 0.00% 23 0.23% 10,044
Tehama 5,860 63.50% 3,368 36.50% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 2,492 27.00% 9,228
Trinity 2,315 69.37% 1,014 30.39% 0 0.00% 8 0.24% 1,301 38.99% 3,337
Tulare 25,668 58.19% 18,407 41.73% 0 0.00% 35 0.08% 7,261 16.46% 44,110
Tuolumne 4,771 66.66% 2,374 33.17% 12 0.17% 0 0.00% 2,397 33.49% 7,157
Ventura 32,789 61.63% 20,368 38.28% 20 0.04% 24[o] 0.05% 12,421 23.35% 53,201
Yolo 13,014 70.27% 5,485 29.62% 0 0.00% 20 0.11% 7,529 40.66% 18,519
Yuba 4,992 60.43% 3,264 39.51% 0 0.00% 5 0.06% 1,728 20.92% 8,261
Total 3,140,076 59.75% 2,110,911 40.16% 2,301 0.04% 2,489 0.05% 1,029,165 19.58% 5,255,777

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Pat Brown's son, Jerry Brown, would ultimately flip Alpine, Orange, and Santa Barbara counties in his 1978 reelection landslide, but Mono County would not vote Democratic until 1998.
  2. ^ In 1978
  3. ^ These votes are Scattering unless otherwise noted in each county
  4. ^ 42 for Delaney, 52 for Steiner
  5. ^ 1 for Delaney
  6. ^ 7 for Delaney
  7. ^ 116 for Delaney, 3 for Steiner
  8. ^ 233 for Delaney, 112 for Steiner
  9. ^ 1 for Delaney, 8 for Steiner
  10. ^ 19 for Delaney, 6 for Steiner
  11. ^ 19 for Delaney, 41 for Steiner
  12. ^ 18 for Delaney, 15 for Steiner
  13. ^ 21 for Delaney
  14. ^ 25 for Delaney
  15. ^ 3 for Delaney, 2 for Steiner

References

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  1. ^ Starr, Kevin (2011). Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford University Press. p. 212-216. ISBN 9780195153774.
  2. ^ Anderson, Totton J. (1959). "The 1958 Election in California". The Western Political Quarterly. 12 (1). [University of Utah, Sage Publications, Inc., Western Political Science Association]: 276–300. ISSN 0043-4078. JSTOR 444055. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  3. ^ a b California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote Direct Primary Election June 3, 1958. Sacramento, California. p. 3. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b California Secretary of State. State of California Statement of Vote General Election November 4, 1958. Sacramento, California. p. 3. Retrieved July 20, 2024.

Further reading

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  • Anderson, Totton J. “The 1958 Election in California.” Western Political Quarterly 12#1 (1959), pp. 276–300. online
  • Anderson, Totton J. "Extremism in California Politics: The Brown-Knowland and Brown-Nixon Campaigns Compared." Political Research Quarterly 16.2 (1963): 371+.
  • Bell, Jonathan. "Social Democracy and the Rise of the Democratic Party in California, 1950–1964." Historical Journal 49.2 (2006): 497-524. online
  • Pawel, Miriam. (2018). The Browns of California : the family dynasty that transformed a state and shaped a nation. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Rapoport, R. California Dreaming: The Political Odyssey of Pat & Jerry Brown. Berkeley: Nolo Press (1982) ISBN 0-917316-48-7.
  • Rarick, Ethan (2006), California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 9780520939844 summary
  • Rarick, Ethan. "The Brown Dynasty." in Modern American Political Dynasties: A Study of Power, Family, and Political Influence ed by Kathleen Gronnerud and Scott J. Spitzer. (2018): 211-30.
  • Rice, Richard B. (2012). The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-338556-3.
  • Rogin, Michael Paul, John L. Shover. Political Change in California: Critical Elections and Social Movements, 1890-1966 (Greenwood, 1970).
  • Schuparra, Kurt. Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966 (M.E. Sharpe, 1998).

Statistics

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