1922 California gubernatorial election

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.

1922 California gubernatorial election

← 1918 November 7, 1922 1926 →
 
Nominee Friend William Richardson Thomas Lee Woolwine
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 576,445 347,530
Percentage 59.69% 35.98%

County results
Richardson:      40-50%      50-60%
     60-70%      70-80%
Woolwine:      40-50%      50-60%

Governor before election

William Stephens
Republican

Elected Governor

Friend Richardson
Republican

Primaries

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Republican primary

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Incumbent 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]

Republican primary results[5]
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

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Los 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]

Democratic primary results[5]
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

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Governor 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.

Prohibition primary results[5]
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

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Socialist primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Socialist Alexander Horr 6,719 100.00%
Total votes 6,719 100.00%

General election results

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1922 California gubernatorial election[8]
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

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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

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Counties that flipped from Independent to Democratic

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Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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References

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "FINAL VOTE COUNT SHOWSLARGELEAD GIVEN RICHARDSON". The Sacramento Union. December 16, 1922.
  3. ^ "ELECTION RESULTS". Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1922. ProQuest 161172604.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "ANGELENO WILL SEEK HIGH POST: Mattison B. Jones Named by Democrats as Candidate for Governorship". Los Angeles Times. July 6, 1922. ProQuest 161135376.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
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